


The Cyber Elf Skirmishes

by Xandyflare



Series: Reign of Shadows [12]
Category: AdventureQuest Worlds, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Destiny (Video Games), Fire Emblem Series, Original Work, Reign of Shadows (Fanfiction), Rockman X | Mega Man X, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: CHARACTER GUILT, Character Death, Hurt/No Comfort, Multi, Original Character(s), Original Plot, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:53:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 41
Words: 86,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27940325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xandyflare/pseuds/Xandyflare
Summary: In the wake of the Alliance losing Nagito to the trip of the Umbra Mondo, bloody and brutal battles are spread all across Alliance territory. Not a single one will be won without something being taken down with it.
Relationships: Andal Brask/Lance (Voltron), Cayde-6/Lucy-1 (Reign of Shadows), Eirika (Fire Emblem)/Spider (Rockman), Keith (Voltron)/Uldren Sov, Lucina (Fire Emblem)/X (Rockman), Lumine (Rockman)/My Unit | Kamui | Corrin, Nono | Nowi/Original Female Character, Osiris/Saint-14 (Destiny), Shiro (Voltron)/Zavala (Destiny), Zion | Rowan/Carla (Reign of Shadows)
Series: Reign of Shadows [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1165988
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	1. Battle of Mars: Beginning

“How is the new head researcher?” The Shadow King stirred his tea with an ebony spoon, relaxing backward in his throne. “Is he settling in nicely?”

“Hm?” Mirage looked up from polishing his blade. “The Umbrati Abanus? Oh, yes. I believe he’s adjusting to his new job perfectly. However, we found that he had to incinerate many documents. It seems that the previous head researcher was a double agent for longer than our initial projection. Many reports delivered between her and Insurrection’s Abyss date back almost a year.”

“Really, now? That’s about half of her time as head researcher. When did it start?”

“Just after the halfbreed was taken in for experimentation, my lord,” Mirage revealed. “It seems that the incident caused an empathy crisis within the previous head researcher.”

“Heh...Referring to her by title only?”

“I don’t know the person who betrayed what we stand for,” Mirage replied without any emotion, making another clean stroke on his blade.

The Shadow King leaned his head slightly to get a better look at Mirage's hands. Neither of them had any rings signaling a marital status.

“Well, neither do I,” The Shadow King agreed. “She is nothing but a traitor to both of us. Should we change the subject? All we’re doing is lingering on something that doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Of course, my lord. What should we discuss?”

“Are the troops prepared for the siege?”

“Of course. We’ve already sent out scouts to map out the probable terrain on Mars for the battle ahead. So far, I want to say we have Plans A through C finalized. Different methods of obtaining the Warmind Rasputin.”

“Yes, yes. Any opposition?’

“Actually, yes. We noticed an Alliance outpost that wasn’t there two weeks ago. It seems that they’ve strengthened their defenses after the disaster on their side that was us effortlessly slipping into their city and kidnapping some of their men with barely a struggle.” Mirage laughed at his own joke, but the Shadow King said nothing. “What shall we do about them?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” The Shadow King commented. “Exterminate them, and claim the entirety of Mars as our own. Leave no survivors.”

“Wonderful orders, my lord.” Mirage smiled under the cloth covering his mouth. “I will send your words to Fuyuhiko on the front lines at once.”

The aforementioned Alliance outpost had been quickly built the week after the infiltration of the City. The infrastructure was poor at best, or outright unstable at worst. But it served as potential cover for any attack, along with enough stability to be able to persevere through Mars’s dust storms without a protective suit on the inside.

Adam Wyrick had been stationed here since the start of the construction. He constantly wore a shielding bodysuit to protect him from the hostile weather on Mars. Due to a lack of air conditioning, he would constantly sit in his personal ship to not drown in his own sweat. It was miserable, being a normal human on a planet like this.

However, he had no right to complain. He knew how the other soldiers around him viewed him. He was a criminal that attempted to kill one of their own out of some twisted sort of retribution. If he started whining about being put in such an uncomfortable place, he had half a feeling that someone will just waltz down the hall to him and knock out his teeth. And honestly, he wouldn’t be mad at them. He would hit himself too.

He sat in a chair in one of the outpost’s hallways, his rifle laid across his lap. With a bottle of gun oil by his side, he had the rifle partially dismantled while scrubbing the barrel interior with a cleaning brush.

“Down the hall this way is the temporary armory,” someone said while walking by him. “We’re planning to move the weapons to a different location once it’s finished being built.”

Adam glanced up at whoever it was. It was an Alliance soldier he didn’t recognize, a woman with short, light brown hair and glasses. She was gesturing to the doors in the hallway as she walked along. And right behind her were the last two people Adam ever wanted to see: Commander Zavala, along with his assistant and Adam’s ex Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane.

Adam quickly ducked back down his head, hoping neither would look at him too closely as Shiro asked, “Is the infrastructure sound on the first floor to even consider expanding?”

“The initial outpost was built quite ramshackle, I’ll admit. But we were pressed by time from the higher-ups to have at least something here.” She glanced over. “Oh, Adam! I had been looking for you.”

Crap. Adam winced and looked up. “You were?”

“You were asked to take a position at Trench C. It’s your shift for the watch. We’re expecting a guest, a lady that goes by Bray.”

Zavala smiled, seeming to ignore Adam’s presence. “Ana Bray, I presume. She’s a Guardian, one that prefers to stay here on Mars with the last Warmind Rasputin. She’s not exactly part of the Alliance and takes no orders from us. But I can say for certain that she is on our side."

“She’s most likely visiting to confirm our intentions here, then,” Shiro noted. “I don’t think she’s seen the Alliance colors fly on Mars, so she’s undoubtedly confused.”

“Yes. I did plan to radio her to tell her that we were moving some forces here to strengthen our defenses, but it seemed that I did not get through to her. Perhaps a dust storm interfered.”

Adam stood up, finishing the cleaning of his gun. “I’ll be heading to Trench C now, ma’am.” He turned to leave.

“Adam.” He froze and slowly turned back to Shiro giving him a strange look. “I...” He shook his head. “Nothing. Carry on.”

Adam sighed in relief. He expected Shiro’s mechanical arm to fly across the three feet between them and knock him unconscious with one swing. His backing out of whatever he was going to say was much more preferable than that. He turned again, leaving as fast as he could before Shiro could change his mind.

“Sir, are you alright?” The female soldier asked with a puzzled look.

“Yea, I’m fine. Tour’s over. You’re dismissed.”

She saluted him. “Yes, sir!”

As she left, Zavala looked to Shiro. He seemed to know exactly what he was about to say. “Were you about to apologize to him?”

“I don’t know,” Shiro admitted. “I think I was. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still mad at him. And we will never get back to the way we were. But there’s still a lot of good memories between us, and I know he’s a good person that meant well in what he did. It just infuriates me that he did such a rash thing, trying to kill Andal. It gets under my skin, and I don’t know why. I feel like there’s some other reason for it, but I can’t think of...”

“I know,” Zavala agreed. “And I know that Adam is a good person, as well. But if you truly wish to forgive him, then, by all means, go for it. You never know if both of you will see tomorrow, so it is better to seize the day.”

Shiro chuckled. “Yea. It is.” He then frowned. “But how did you know that I was about to apologize? Couldn’t I have been thinking of something else?”

“Because it reminded me of a previous meeting between me and Adam himself,” Zavala suddenly revealed.

Shiro paused. “You’ve had a meeting with him?” He asked.

“Well, not exactly a meeting,” Zavala admitted. “More of a quick conversation. Remember the meeting that we had over approving Dr. Isaac Weil’s grant for funds to continue the Cyber Elf Project?”

“How could I forget?” Shiro questioned. “Yes, I remember. What about it?”

“A couple of hours after the meeting, I was suddenly approached by Adam. He seemed to have been searching for me for a while because he seemed out of breath. Regardless, he told me that he wanted to talk to me.” Zavala paused. “He said that he was sorry for what we did to you. To what grief he caused. He said, word for word, that he deserved every dirty look you gave him.”

Shiro’s face slowly fell. “He said that? You’re telling the truth?”

“I am. And he wanted to ask me something personally, about you. He wanted to ask me to do something, but he backed out last second. The way that he quickly denied what he was going to tell me came to mind when you did the same to him.”

Slightly surprising Zavala, Shiro chuckled. “I think because of how close we are, we do share a few quirks.”

Zavala smiled warmly at him. “I can understand that. But as I said, if you truly want to get over your anger towards him...”

“I have to apologize,” Shiro finished. “I know. But it feels strange that I’m the one apologizing over getting mad at his actions.”

“Takashi,” Zavala gently chided, and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not exactly a therapist, so I don’t think I’m able to tell you what you need to hear. But let me say this; to me, it sounds like you’re making up excuses to avoid the event of apologizing to Adam.”

“Do I really?” Shiro seemed surprised at his words being heard in such a way.

“I mean, that’s the way I hear it.” Zavala turned his head to look Shiro dead in the eye. “Imagine how Adam hears it.” When Shiro said nothing, he continued. “Stop making these excuses and tell him that you are sorry if you truly mean that you are.”

Shiro slowly nodded. “I do. And I will. Thank you, Commander.” He looked down the hall. “Trench C is where he is now, right?”

“I don’t think you should disturb him while he’s on the job,” Zavala pointed out.

Shiro huffed, smiling. “True.”

A great explosion ripped the shoddy walls into shreds of scrap metal. The whole ground shook with a cacophony of loud booms. Zavala acted first, grabbing Shiro and shoving him to the ground while using his own body to cover him.

Shiro lifted his head to look. Someone was stepping inside, holding a weapon he recognized as an RPG. Before they could turn to see them both, Shiro shoved Zavala to the side, sitting up. Keeping an arm in front of the commander, he pulled the gun on his back out and fired about five shots, all hitting their target.

The attacker fell backward from the impact of the shots. The RPG fell out of their hands. They seemed to disintegrate mid-air, their body never hitting the ground before they dissolved into green particles that floated into the air.

Shiro paused. “What the...?”

As Zavala sat up, Shiro stood up and slowly approached. “What happened to their body?” The commander asked.

Shiro knelt by the dropped RPG. As if to test something, he placed a hand on it. The shell of the launcher was cold to the touch, a bit of smoke still coming from the barrel from being fired.

“This is solid,” he reported.

“I asked about the person who was using it, Takashi.”

Shiro looked over his shoulder at the Commander. “Those green particles reminded me of a Cyber Elf. But that would be impossible. Their holographic forms aren’t solidified enough to carry a 15-pound hunk of metal, plus another 5 pounds for every rocket to be loaded inside the launcher. Plus, manufacturing for them never took place before Dr. Weil’s murder, so the only ones in existence are the Weil siblings.”

“Then a Vex creation?” Zavala stood up, pulling out his shotgun.

Shiro raised a hand in response. Zavala immediately fell silent. Shiro had heard it first; massive amounts of gunfire growing louder at a rapid pace, along with more explosions that caused small vibrations beneath their feet.

“Whoever these attackers are, there’s more!” Shiro declared. “Come on!” He began to run down the hall, followed closely by Zavala.

The defensive trenches facing the west of the outpost were in the midst of the sudden warzone. The dirt around them would fly up into the air like geysers from launched explosives. Soldiers who had the unfortunate luck of poking their heads out to fire at the wrong time would have their heads explode in red gore.

Adam kept his head down most of the time, even if he was wearing a helmet that covered his entire head. Instead, he would just barely glance over from behind poorly-made sandbags and spray randomly with his rifle, praying that he at least hits something non-friendly.

An explosion erupted just down the trench, and somebody screamed in pain. A strangled voice began to cry out for their mother for a few seconds. Then another explosion occurred, and they went quiet. Adam’s heart dropped for a second, but he pushed down his fear as best as he could.

As he began to open fire again, somebody jumped into the trench next to him. Alarmed, he swung his rifle out of startlement. They seemed to anticipate this, catching his rifle with their raised hand before he struck them across the face.

“We should have called out we were entering,” Zavala admitted before releasing Adam’s rifle.

Adam exhaled in relief. “Commander Zavala. I’m sorry for swinging at you. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, and-”

“No need to apologize, Adam!” Shiro yelled, emptying a round in the enemy direction. “Tell us what’s going on!”

“Yes, sir! We heard explosions begin about ten minutes ago. Then a few moments later, they opened fire on us. They could have been creating holes with explosions for protection for this siege, as our scouts had reported zero signs of any enemy encampment before the explosions began to occur.”

“Has anyone seen Ana Bray arrive yet?” Zavala asked.

Adam shook his head. “No, sir!” he responded as the ground vibrated. “And I don’t think anyone’s focused on looking for her now!”

Shiro looked over the surface again. Through the dust clouds kicked up from the blasts, he could see multiple figures camping out in craters, just like Adam said. They were opening fire on the trenches in return, and unlike the scattered Alliance soldiers, were brazenly out in the open. It was like they had no regard for their personal safety.

Some lucky soldier managed to shoot one of these attackers. As Shiro watched, they dropped their weapon as the bullet went through their head. Their form fizzed green before shattering into data particles.

“They ARE Cyber Elves!” Shiro exclaimed. “I had my doubts in the beginning, but I just saw one get killed! They fizzled green much like Nagito did whenever a physical object crossed into his holographic form!”

“Sir, that’s quite impossible!” Adam argued. “As you just said, physical objects pass through them! They can’t pick up physical weapons and shoot real bullets!”

Shiro paused, then said, “Call me Shiro or Takashi, Adam.”

Adam paused, his face losing its grim expression under his orange-tinted visor. “...What?”

Shiro said nothing in response. “And I know. That’s why I’m trying to wrap my head around this.”

Zavala looked as if he had suddenly realized something. “The Mother Elf was a storage of Dr. Weil’s inventions in progress, wasn’t it?” He asked Shiro. “Couldn’t there be a chance if there was some research that involved Cyber Elves being manufactured with solid holographic forms? If they’re disintegrating upon being killed, they are not possessing Reploids or Exos.”

Shiro lowered his gun slowly. “Manufacturing...They’re manufacturing Cyber Elf soldiers with the power of the Mother Elf! That’s why they’re showing such a disregard for their physical safety; they’re disposable grunts!”

"But how?" Zavala called out. "We know Cyber Elves need base data to be programmed! The Weil Siblings needed the old personal data from Golden Age times, so what kind of source has so much base data?"

Adam grimaced. “But if Shiro's right, they could very well outnumber us! We’ve only got the size of a company here!”

“And what’s that exact number?” Zavala questioned.

“About 120, sir!” Adam answered. “20% synthetic in some manner, whether cyborg, Reploid, or Exo! Though we are expecting a battalion of 500 more to arrive by the end of this week!”

“We would last three days at best, a week would be a miracle!” Shiro growled. “Especially if this really is an army that has no limit on how many can be manufactured.”

“We could send an emergency communication to the rest of the Alliance!” Adam suggested.

A great ball of fire spiraled upwards from behind the three. They all glanced to see an electronics tower engulfed in flames, teetering slightly to the left. As there was another explosion below it, it completely toppled over, sparking all the way down and shattering upon impact with the Mars floor.

Shiro said nothing for a second, then looked over at Adam. “You mean with that communications tower that just collapsed?”

“...That’s the one,” Adam responded. “The one and only piece of shit.”

“The aircraft that transported us here is long gone or blown up,” Zavala growled. “We’re virtually on our own here now.”

Shiro risked it to take another glance, then suddenly gasped. “Commander! You have to see this!”

Zavala glanced at Shiro peeking over. Stepping up to him, Shiro let him take his place. He placed a hand on the trench wall, then leaned up to see what was going on.

Next to one of the craters was somebody standing and watching the trenches get torn apart. Their white cloak was torn at the edges, and the snake-shaped hood had red details on the cloth fangs around his face. Their left arm was jagged and red, pulsing with some nauseating-looking power. But their shaved head and their left eye being covered was a dead ringer.

“That’s Fuyuhiko Weil,” Zavala slowly realized. “One of the siblings unaccounted for.”

Adam slightly lowered his rifle. “Does that mean that...They got him?”

Zavala said nothing about that, instead ducking down to avoid any more gunfire. “They will not show us mercy. Return the favor until help can arrive!”

Adam paused before saluting. “Yes, sir!”

Fuyuhiko only watched the Alliance soldiers fight back with all they had. Some part of him craved for the ability to show them pity. A louder voice in his head screamed wordlessly in pain and terror. But his limbs have ceased to move of their own volition, and the words that leave his mouth were not his own anymore.

_ “Soldier.” _ The voice of the King of Spades echoed in his mind. _ “How goes the siege?” _

“Perfect, Master,” Fuyuhiko replied emotionlessly. “If all goes well, we will have the resistance eradicated by the third day.”

The King of Spades chuckled darkly. _ “Oh, I love to hear you call me your superior. It really does tell me that I’ve won.” _


	2. Battle of Mars: Halfway

Two Cyber Elves were standing in a darkened hallway. One of them held a flashlight up as they surveyed the route back and forth. The other held a rifle, keeping it level with wherever they were going.

When they were a little more than halfway down the hallway, a knife shot out from the darkness and implanted itself into the head of the Elf holding the gun. They went down immediately, shattering out of existence. And as the second Elf turned to see their fallen friend die, a shadow rushed at them and proceeded to stab them as well.

With both of the Elves dead, a gun was cocked. The figure immediately turned, throwing a third knife. The new presence was barely able to dodge it in time, though it grazed his cheek slightly.

“Friendly!” Shiro called out, lowering his gun. “I’m not with the Elves!”

The attacker was a woman with short black hair. White face paint adorned her expression as she wore equally pristine Hunter clothes. Her cloak was highlighted in blue, depicting a snarling wolf in the center.

She slowly righted herself. “Guardian?” She asked.

“What? No. I’m not a Guardian. But if you need proof that I’m not an enemy...” Shiro pointed to his cheek. “I do bleed, not like them.”

The woman seemed unsure for a moment. Then, she got closer and looked at the cut her knife had created. Thin trickles of blood were going down Shiro’s face, running along his jawline. She seemed satisfied with this, pocketing her knife.

“Then are you with the Guardians?” She took the one she had thrown out from the wall it had been implanted in.

“Commander Zavala sent me,” Shiro clarified. “I don’t exactly work adjacent with the Guardians, but I do work for him. Are you Ana Bray?”

“That I am,” she responded. “Then you’re with the Alliance I’ve been hearing about lately.”

Shiro made a polite bow. “Takashi Shirogane, though everyone just calls me Shiro. We were expecting you at the outpost, so when you didn’t arrive, Zavala got worried. Since the fight on our end began to loosen up a bit, he sent me out to find you.”

“He sent a single non-Guardian?” Ana seemed skeptical.

Shiro chuckled. “Sounds suicidal,” he admitted. “I know. But he knows what I’m capable of. And also, we barely have any troops to spare. 120 is all we have.”

“I wish I had that amount of help,” Ana snarked. “I’ve been defending this place all by myself since the attacks began.” She paused. “With some cooperation from Rasputin, too.”

“We would give you help, but again, we only have 120 people,” Shiro repeated. “And the outpost is where emergency forces would be arriving. We lost our communications, so we can’t order them to land elsewhere. If we lose the outpost, reinforcements would be landing straight into a trap.”

Ana sighed. “It’s only been two days, and these guys already have us in a no-win situation? And Mars is so close to the Alliance, too.”

“It’s like taunting,” Shiro remarked. “Mocking that they can win so close to the Alliance main headquarters with little to nothing that can be done about it.” He shook his head. “Anyways, are you and Rasputin alright for now, Ms. Bray?”

“As fine as we can be in a situation like this,” Ana responded. “Their attacks sometimes let up, but I’ve barely gotten about five hours of sleep since they began their siege. However, Rasputin’s been able to handle his defenses just fine. It’s one person we have trouble with.”

Shiro began to walk along. “Tell me more.”

Ana followed him. “It’s what seems to be somebody in their teen years. They’re wearing a white cloak with the hood shaped like a snake head.”

“That would be Fuyuhiko Weil,” Shiro clarified. “He was originally on our side, given what information we have on him. However, he’s been reprogrammed to serve the Umbra Mondo. According to our scouts, he seems to be the main leader of the attacks on our outpost and Rasputin. That also means he’s the most dangerous.”

“Right. And what’s going on with his arm and eye?” Ana grimaced. “It kind of looks like SIVA.”

“Frankly, we don’t know, but it isn’t SIVA,” Shiro replied. “The last fragment of it was reportedly destroyed by Cayde-6, though he didn’t mention what exactly it was or where he found it. However, there’s no reason to not trust his word.”

Ana seemed a bit unsure. “Even if he’s neglected to tell the full picture?”

“Well, do you trust Cayde?”

“With my life,” she responded with a smile. “So I guess you have a point. I wouldn’t doubt him. Speaking of him, is he alright?” She lost her smile. “I heard about what happened.”

“You mean the coma?” Shiro asked, and Ana quietly nodded. “Well, it’s good you asked. One of the doctors saw his hand twitch a few days ago.” He smiled. “We’re under the belief that he’s starting to wake up again. However, that does bring a whole new problem.”

“Exo resetting?” Ana guessed.

“Exactly. We’re not sure if or not it’ll be Cayde-7 who wakes up.”

Ana didn’t respond, instead stopping in front of a door. “Right here. This leads to Rasputin.” She began to extend her hand to the door.

Suddenly, an echoing voice blared across the facility, echoing in the halls. Shiro immediately grabbed Ana’s wrist to stop her from opening the door. Both of them looked up at the roof as something in a language Shiro didn’t understand spoke through some sort of intercom.

Ana seemed to understand it just fine, seeing the way she muttered under her breath. “Virus detected, analyzing threat...”

Shiro looked at her. “What was that?”

“Quiet!” She sharply raised a hand as the voice returned, and Shiro closed his mouth. “Cyber Elf equals hostile...preparing combat subroutines, commencing protocol...Palisade Imperative! Shit, they’re in the restricted facility parts!” Ana threw open the door.

Shiro wanted to ask what had just happened, especially what language that was in. But he could see that now was not the time. Placing his rifle back into his hands, he ran into the adjacent hallway right after Ana.

Once the door was opened, gunshots became audible. When Shiro looked around the corner, he could see multiple frames short-circuiting and collapsing. He managed to duck away in time to avoid a subsequent torrent of bullets coming from the other end of the hallway. And when he peeked out again, he could see a familiar white cloak.

“It’s him!” Shiro called to the adjacent wall to him, where Ana was crouching under cover. “Fuyuhiko Weil, the person we were just talking about!”

“He somehow got in this deep without getting my attention?” Ana swore. “These Cyber Elves are more crafty than I thought!”

“Got any plans?” Shiro leaned out to give covering fire but quickly hid again when Fuyuhiko nearly hit him in the head.

“Rasputin’s already on this, so if Fuyuhiko can fight him off, I’m not exactly sure!” Ana admitted. “This is the Warmind’s facility, after all!”

Shiro hesitantly nodded. “Good point!” He glanced again. “It’s like you said. I think both of us underestimated the Cyber Elves’ capabilities.”

Ana raised her head. “Hold on.” Shiro held his breath when her voice echoed in a quiet hall. “He’s stopped firing. I think he’s reloading. Now’s our chance!”

Shiro quickly nodded. “Right!” He leaned out to aim again.

Fuyuhiko was right there. He had suddenly slipped up right where Shiro was hiding. And when he picked out, their faces were only about a foot apart.

A hand clenched around Shiro's neck, tight and unyielding. Shiro gasped and immediately began choking for air. He felt his feet lifted off the ground for an instant before the wind whistled, and his entire body was slammed to the metal floor.

"Shiro!" Ana tossed a knife at Fuyuhiko, only for him to lean out of the way and let it sink into the wall.

Releasing Shiro, Fuyuhiko darted at Ana. She lunged back, pulling out another knife. She swung it back and forth to deflect various punches that her sudden opponent began to deliver, pushing her back down the hallway where they came in from.

With nobody currently on him, Shiro sat up, gasping for breath. He took a second for the ringing in his ears to fade, and the painful throbbing to not be as piercing. Then, when he was certain he could stand without the threat of falling over, he picked up his gun and turned to the other two fighting.

Shiro quickly placed his finger on the second trigger of the rifle. "Ana!" He called out.

Ana turned and got the message. She dropped to the floor, leaving Fuyuhiko in line for a clear shot. Before he could figure out what was happening, a grenade was already being fired from the launcher on the bottom of Shiro's rifle.

The ensuing explosion shook the entire area. Ana scrambled back to not be caught in the minor blast radius. By the time the dust cleared, Fuyuhiko had vanished.

Shiro ran up to Ana, extending a hand. "Are you alright?"

"Yea." Ana gratefully took his hand. "You got him, right?"

Shiro pulled her up while saying, "I don't know. I hope so."

"We need to hurry." Ana began to run along. "Rasputin's core is just up ahead. We can't let these guys get to him."

The entire hallway exploded. Shiro was sent arching through the air, flying through the smoke and broken metal. He finally slammed into a wall, and the ringing returned tenfold. He crumpled to the ground, blacking out for a moment.

When he came to, his entire body screamed in pain from being battered around. Grunting and groaning in pain, Shiro slowly lifted his head to look around in the ashes.

Ana was limp on the other side of the hallway but was stirring as well. Shiro was about to call out to her, but she noticed he was stirring and lifted her head to shake it. Getting the message, Shiro returned to an unmoving state but kept his eyes half-open.

He had landed in a heap of metal that obscured his body from sight from most angles. You would only see him if you were laying on the ground like Ana, where you would be able to see him through a crack in the pile of metal fragments fallen around and over him. This angle was why Ana was able to see him, but not the two pairs of white boots entering.

"Ana Bray!" One chimed in, one Shiro recognized as the King of Spades by voice. "I've done my research about you. I thought you would be easier to take care of, but I guess when you gotta watch an organic with one life, your skills tend to lack."

"Where is he?" Ana growled. "Did you kill him?!"

While Shiro couldn't see it, he could tell the King of Spades was looking around by the way his boots shuffled back and forth. "Huh. Guess I did. He's probably been impaled with all of this metal. Oh, well! I have lost absolutely nothing! In fact, we now have everything we wanted from Mars!"

"Leave Rasputin out of your sick games!" Ana threatened.

Ana was suddenly yanked up out of Shiro's sight. "Ah, ah, ah! Ain't in no position to be making demands, Ms. Bray!"

"Shall we kill her?" Shiro couldn't recognize the second voice. It was dull and robotic. If he had to guess, it was Fuyuhiko.

"Nah. We'll keep her alive. I wanna see the look on her face when she loses everything. And our personal favorite..." The King of Spades’ voice suddenly gained some sort of English royal accent. "We plunge her into absolute despair!" Then, it switched to a more depressed tone. "But what would happen if I got my way? Only despair would exist, so what could fight it?" He then cackled. "Nothin’! Nothin’s gonna destroy it all! There will only be some sweet fucking despair!"

"What the hell are you?" Ana growled.

"Oh, you wanna know who I am?" The King of Spades asked. "How fucking boring would it be if I told you outright?! That would ruin the damn fun!" He suddenly cleared his throat, regaining his normal tone. "Take her away, Fuyuhiko. Have her be probed for how to access the Warmind."

"Yes, sir."

Shiro continued to lay there as he watched Ana be dragged away. It hurt, just having to lay there while she thrashed and kicked. After waiting for a few moments and becoming positive he was alone again, he began to sit up to climb his way out of the rubble to get the hell out of the facility.

Then he froze once he heard the king of Spades' voice again. "Hey. Kazuichi. Status report." Shiro fell quiet to listen in. "...Uh-huh. ...Really, now? I didn't know the commander was in town." The King of Spades laughed. "You know, he and I go back. I know exactly what makes him tick, and I know how to exploit that tick."

Shiro suddenly sucked in a breath. The King of Spades was right in front of him. His boots were directly in front of the slit Shiro was peering through. If he looked down at just the right angle...

"Alright...Have the Umbra Bullets finished production yet? You know, the Guardian killing ones?" Shiro stifled a gasp, glancing upwards at the King of Spades. "No? What’s the production rate on it? ...So when do you think they’ll be ready? ...I can wait a few days. I have a plan. ...Okay, just continue suppressing them. Don't siege yet. ...Good soldier."

There was a click, and the King of Spades chuckled. "The next few days are about to become  _ very _ interesting," he said aloud to himself.

Finally, the King of Spades turned and began to walk away. Shiro waited until he could completely stop hearing his footsteps before he uncovered his mouth. He gasped for air after staying still for so long, beginning to slowly shift under the metal once more.

He had to get the hell out. Whatever was about to happen, the Commander needed to know about it.

Outside was pitch black. The Mars night barely allowed anyone without night vision to see beyond twenty feet away. Instead, with the gunfire nothing more than faint echoes, multiple campfires had been lit all around the outpost to give off light for surveillance.

Zavala sat by one of the campfires. He didn't stare at the fire. Instead, he looked beyond it, at the rocky terrain far beyond where the light would touch. His shotgun laid next to him as he leaned forward on one propped-up leg.

A log was suddenly tossed on the campfire, and he jumped. He grabbed his shotgun and pointed it upwards at whoever was suddenly there.

Adam barely even flinched, though his shoulders jumped up a bit. "You need to sleep, Commander."

Zavala huffed, lowering his shotgun. "You do not need to worry about my health."

"Guess I don't," Adam agreed, sitting down. "You're probably not going to go inside until Shiro comes back safely, right?"

Zavala looked suddenly flustered. "That's...not something you should be questioning, Adam."

Adam chuckled. "Don't worry," he assured him. "I can assure you for a fact that Shiro would do the same if you were out for a mission." Zavala looked away, and Adam looked upwards at the stars. "I wonder where it is."

Zavala looked up as well. "What where is?"

"My Earth. The one where Shiro, the other Paladins and I come from. Ever since I crash-landed here from a time break, I haven't seen it." He lost his smile. "And it's the only world we have yet to link back to with the gates."

"Oh." Zavala winced in sympathy.

"I wonder how it’s faring," Adam continued. "From what I've been told, it's now in a peaceful state. But its main protectors are here, in this unknown place. I can’t help but worry.”

"I may not know your Earth, but I know humanity is a strong and persevering race," Zavala reasoned. "They can manage without Voltron."

Both of them fell quiet. The campfire crackled and sparked. A round of bullets pierced the night a long distance away, then everything went quiet again.

Adam exhaled a deep breath. "Commander?"

Zavala lifted his head. "Hm?"

"I wanted to talk to you about..." Adam began, then stopped himself.

"Is it the same thing that you didn't want to mention when you told me you deserved every punishment you have gotten for attempting to kill Andal?" Zavala guessed.

Adam nodded. "Y-Yea. It is. It's an odd request, but when thinking about it, only you can really fulfill it."

Zavala tilted his head. "Go on."

"I...I know you're in love with Shiro. I want you to take care of him for me."

Immediately, Zavala's face deepened in a purple blush. "Wh-What?!" He quickly attempted to cover his face. "Those are rumors that circulate the Alliance at best!"

"Please don't. This is a serious request." Adam waited until Zavala looked at him in the eyes again. "I want you to take care of him. I still care for him. And I know he deeply hates me. Hell, I deserve it. But I still want him to be okay. And if you can be the person that I can't be to him anymore, then that's fine by me. I just want him to be happy and safe."

"I..." Zavala cleared his throat. "That is a strange request that I..." He paused, considering his words. "That I will carry out to the best of my ability."

"Thank you, Commander." Adam stood up. "I'll be able to rest easy, knowing Shiro is in good hands."

Zavala watched Adam go, stepping back towards the outpost. One of the logs in the campfire shifted and snapped. He looked back at it, a small smile beginning to appear on his lips.

"He will be," he said to himself. "I'll make sure of it."


	3. Battle of Mars: Ending

Shiro didn't return from Rasputin's facility. When morning broke, what instead arrived was an army by the masses. The soldiers who had attempted to get some winks of sleep were woken up by the pained screams of their comrades being torn apart in their sleep.

Adam had barely gotten out of his army bunk and grabbed his rifle when a plasma sword cut the door in two. The soldier who was tangled in his sheets and trying desperately to get up was stabbed clean through. He died with a choking noise and a look of pure terror on his face.

Adam scrambled back and opened fire. He always kept his gun loaded in case something like this happened. The Cyber Elf was taken down in eight shots and disintegrated before his eyes. The plasma sword clattered to the ground before deactivating itself after a moment. Adam considered for a moment before taking the hilt and placing it on his belt.

Stepping outside of the room, he immediately pointed his rifle down the hallway. A Cyber Elf at the end of it raised a pistol in return and fired first. Adam quickly ducked behind the door frame for cover as wooden splinters flew past his head. When he leaned out to fire again, the Cyber Elf was ducking around the corner as well.

Adam sucked in a breath to stabilize his hand. When the Cyber Elf leaned out to fire again, he pulled the trigger and emptied the rest of the current rifle clip. Green data particles flew up from behind the corner. Adam exhaled, ejecting the current clip and fumbling to put in a new one.

More bullets came in from behind, and one sliced through his jumpsuit and skin on his arm. Adam yelped and ducked back into the bunk room again. He quickly looked at his shoulder. No muscle was torn, but it stung. He didn't try to wipe away the blood and peeked out again.

There were two Cyber Elves this time. One held a rifle almost identical to him. The other fired their own weapon. A rocket launcher. Adam's eyes blew wide. He lunged away and out of the bunk room.

The moment the rocket connected with the wall, the backlash sent him flying down the hall. He slammed into the ground and rolled an extra few feet. His rifle skidded away and hit the wall before bouncing away in a diagonal movement. The area trembled, and blood fell on the uneven ground.

Adam slowly pushed himself up. He quickly put a hand to his face. Blood was dripping down from a cut on his forehead. One of the lenses of his glasses was cracked in the corner. Grunting, he shoved himself to his feet.

A slam to the back of his head made him tumble forward again. His head throbbed as he hit the ground once more. Blood was choked up, and he spat out a glob onto the ground.

Adam forced himself to roll away in time to avoid the first Cyber Elf firing where he just was. He grabbed at the sword handle on his belt, then swung it, activating the plasma blade while doing so. He sliced a perfectly diagonal line in the first Cyber Elf, and they disintegrated immediately.

As he got up, he lunged back to avoid another rocket blast. The second Cyber Elf began to load another shot as Adam stumbled backward. He glanced towards his rifle, then grabbed it and began to run down the hall.

Adam could hear the rocket launcher fire behind him. He lunged around the corner and pressed himself against the wall. The wind whipped by his face as the rocket passed the corner and blew a hole straight through the wall in front of it.

He banked on the hope that the Cyber Elf wasn't done reloading. He leaned out of cover and fired back down the hall. The recoil sent his shoulders back and sent the smell of gunpowder up into his face.

The sound of the Cyber Elf's dissolving took the tense feeling out of his shoulders. Adam adjusted his glasses to see better. The rocket launcher was laying on the ground, with no attendee to it.

"Adam!" Adam whipped his head to look behind him at whoever called. Upon seeing them, he lowered his rifle in shock.

Shiro was limping with one foot as he jogged over. His hair was tussled and matted with dirt and blood. He clutched his side, which was sticky with red, and cuts and bruises adorned his face. In his free hand, he gripped tightly a survival knife.

"Shiro!" Adam sprinted the rest of the way over, immediately taking Shiro's arm and putting it over his shoulders. "Are you okay? What happened?"

“Fought my way out of the facility,” Shiro grunted. “The Cyber Elves somehow got Rasputin by surprise. By the time Ana Bray and I figured out something was wrong, they were swarming all over the place. I managed to escape, but...Don’t know what happened to her.”

Adam winced, letting Shiro lean on him. “We need to find the Commander, and get to safety.”

“Yea, but they’re kind of sieging the base,” Shiro snarked. “Where exactly is safe?”

“There’s an emergency bunker,” Adam quickly explained. “It was the first thing built when the outpost was being constructed. If we’re lucky, their explosives won’t uproot it, and we’ll be able to safely hide there until reinforcements arrive.”

“And what about the Commander?” Shiro continued. “Have you seen him?”

Adam frowned. “No,” he admitted. “I barely woke up in time to avoid getting killed. I haven’t seen him all day.”

When they turned the corner, the wall was demolished. While an explosion took down the wall, a sudden flash of wind blew in. Adam stumbled back, trying to shield his eyes from the amount of dust suddenly piling in.

“Dust storm!” He yelled. “Now of all times?!”

“We have to find the Commander, now!” Shiro declared.

Adam drew the plasma sword from his belt. The moment the Cyber Elf who destroyed the wall entered, he thrust it forward and speared it in the stomach. Shiro let go of him and swung his arm to stab the Elf in the head with the survival knife. They dissolved after a moment of pause, dropping a blaster pistol and a sash of grenades.

Shiro picked up the pistol and shoved aside the grenade sash. He turned and gave a single nod to Adam. The latter looked surprised for a moment, then returned the nod before lifting his rifle. With that, both of them peeked out into the dust storm.

It was absolute mayhem. Everybody had been driven out of the trenches. Now, they were running around, firing desperately at their attackers. The dust storm didn’t help matters in their favor. The Cyber Elves were able to see through it just fine, their forms only shivering slightly in the high winds. They were gunning down Alliance soldiers at a rapid rate.

Shiro picked back up the grenade sash and pulled the pin on one. As Adam began to shoot any Cyber Elf that he could see, Shiro threw the grenade in one particularly large enemy group. After a moment, it exploded, taking about three Cyber Elves with it.

“You see him?” Adam called over the howling storm.

“I don’t!” Shiro replied. “I think we’re going to have to go out there!”

Adam did a double-take. “Are you crazy?!” he exclaimed. “We’re barely able to see them from here! We’ll be out in the open!” He ducked behind the crumbling wall when one Cyber Elf shot at him.

“Yea, well, imagine how the Commander feels!” Shiro replied, throwing another grenade. “Look, if you don’t want to go out there, I can understand that! But I’m his assistant! I’m going to find him!”

Adam winced. He looked around as he could hear marching footsteps coming close. He looked back at the hole in the wall as the second grenade blew up two more Elves. Finally, he gave an exasperated sigh.

“Stay behind me!” He ordered. “I’ll cover you!”

Adam lunged out of hiding, opening fire on whatever moved. The moment he stepped outside, he couldn’t differentiate what was friend or enemy anymore. He hoped that the Alliance soldiers would be wise to take cover. And if there was friendly fire, he hoped that it would be understandable to the Commander.

Shiro followed behind him, still limping. He began to pick off any stragglers that Adam missed with the pistol. Some Cyber Elves were wise to slip into cover or hiding. Others were shot down by either of the two, dissolving into particles.

“Commander!” Shiro yelled over the howling wind. “Where are you?!”

Adam suddenly stopped Shiro and shoved him behind cover. Shiro immediately looked over to ask what was wrong, only to see Adam peeking over the sandbags they were hiding behind.

“Adam?”

“Found him,” Adam merely said. “It’s Fuyuhiko.”

Shiro looked out as well. Upon noticing what Adam was seeing, flashing lights of red and bright blue coursing throughout the dust storm, he immediately began to stand. However, Adam immediately kept him down.

“It’s too dangerous,” Adam reasoned. “They’re going all-out against each other. If we try to interfere, we could very well be killed!”

“I don’t care!” Shiro shoved off Adam’s arm. “It’s my job to assist the Commander! No matter what!”

Adam could only watch as Shiro hopped over the sandbags. “Wait! TAKASHI!”

Fuyuhiko could never be on par with Zavala in terms of strength. He wasn’t planning to be. All he needed to do was draw out his power, weaken him enough. And then, all he would need to do is fire his gun once, and that one specialized bullet will finish it all.

Most of the power Fuyuhiko had was dealt towards his shields barely protecting him from Zavala’s Fists of Havoc. He kept dodging around, always dancing at the edges of Zavala’s reach. This was the only strategy in his mind that would work: drawing out the fight.

“Is that the best you can do?” Fuyuhiko taunted. “Pathetic.”

“Stop moving and prove yourself, then,” Zavala replied, fists in the air.

“How about you hit me first? Then we’ll talk about it.”

Fuyuhiko noticed something moving in fast from the left. He turned his head slightly, frowning in confusion. Then, he got a flying metal arm to the face, sending him tumbling into the dust storm. He was obscured by the ferocious weather in less than an instant.

Zavala watched the arm fly back the way it came from. “Shiro!”

Shiro hobbled up, readjusting his metal arm. “Comma-” He began to salute.

Zavala didn’t let him. He pulled Shiro into a hug, letting his head rest on his shoulder. He said nothing, only held the younger man tightly in an almost protective embrace.

Shiro seemed surprised at first, but didn’t fight back. He slowly hugged Zavala back, as if wondering if this was allowed. Zavala didn’t seem to complain, so he continued returning the hug as he pressed his head against his shoulder.

“You’re hurt, Shiro,” Zavala commented. “I’ll get you to safety.”

“You called me Shiro,” he replied. “You’ve been doing that more often now.”

“Don’t all of your close companions call you Shiro, not Takashi?”

Shiro gasped, pulling back a bit. “Close...companions?”

For a moment, the storm stopped. Everybody ceased fire around them. It seemed time itself didn’t exist for a split second. It was just them, with the dust billowing around them and shielding them from the rest of the world.

Then Shiro saw Fuyuhiko raising his gun and pointing it. The barrel glowed purple from the bullet within, casting the only light in the dust storm beside Fuyuhiko’s red arm. It was directed at the back of Zavala’s head. The distance ensured a deadly hit.

So Shiro shoved him down and took the bullet straight to the chest. He didn’t even make a cry of alarm once his left lung collapsed as the bullet passed through his body and out the other way in one clean swoop. He just crumpled to the ground instantaneously.

Zavala sat up, the wind suddenly sharp on his expression of horror. “SHIROOO!”

“NOOOOOOO!!” Adam opened fire on Fuyuhiko, screaming with rage.

Fuyuhiko immediately covered his gun and arm to hide the light casting from his body. And just like that, he vanished into the storm all around them. He didn’t even shoot Zavala arching over Shiro’s body to protect him from any more bullets. It seems whatever kind of bullet that was fired was the only one of its kind.

“Shiro! SHIRO!” Zavala lightly shook Shiro. “Speak to me! Look at me!”

Shiro slowly forced his eyes open, blood already dribbling from the corners of his mouth. “C-Co...Zavala...”

Zavala didn’t even acknowledge his name being spoken. He was too plagued by worry, by guilt. He should have focused on Fuyuhiko. He shouldn’t have turned his back on him. He shouldn’t have underestimated him. So many things were rushing through this mind that he didn’t even get up at first.

“Commander! COMMANDER!” When Zavala didn’t respond, Adam slapped him across the face. “We have to get to safety! NOW! There are emergency medical supplies in the bunkers!”

“...Right...Right!” Zavala pulled Shiro onto his back. “Hold on, Shiro. Stay with us!”

The gunshots were over. Zavala knew who was the winning side as they fought against the wind. Involuntarily shivering at the truth, he hugged Shiro closer in a useless bid to shield him from more danger.

Adam suddenly stopped. He covered his mouth with his arm, choking on the sands of Mars flying up into his face. Zavala stopped too, eyes slowly growing wide.

“Well, well, well well well!” The King of Spades laughed, standing in a firing line of ten Elves. “Look at you! You almost made it. Man, your buddy isn’t looking too good there.” He stepped forward.

Zavala immediately reeled back. “Stay away from him!” He barked.

The King of Spades smiled when his Elves cocked their weapons. “Temper, temper, my old friend!”

Adam glanced over. “You know him?”

Zavala slowly shook his head. “No. I don’t.” He glanced at Shiro in his arms. “We don’t have time for this. Out of our way!”

“You? Making demands now?” The King of Spades laughed. “And here I thought that you couldn’t get any more pathetic! I’ve got a dozen guns on you and your buddy there right now. Why should I listen to you?”

“Shiro’s DYING!” Zavala suddenly snapped. “He needs help!”

The King of Spades looked down at Shiro. His face seemed to soften. “Yea,” he said genuinely. “He does.” When he looked back up, his face was crestfallen. “What happened?”

Adam glanced over at Zavala before saying, “Your puppet shot him. Fuyuhiko, with a glowing purple bullet.”

“Glowing...?” The King of Spades looked suddenly cross. “Oh, THAT’S why you’re still alive. He had to waste the Umbra Bullet on somebody that it didn’t affect? What a brat. Guess I’ll have to discipline him once I see him again, huh?” He shook his head. “Whatever. With a collapsed lung like that, he won’t survive a day without medical attention. And I doubt either of you are good at stitching up a lung, are you?”

“Get to the point,” Adam suddenly snapped.

The King of Spades merely eerily smiled. He glanced back at one of the Elves, who silently nodded. They pointed their rocket launcher to the side, and Adam glanced in the direction it was pointing at.

Through the dust storm, he could see that a large cliff towered over them from the side. At the top was a large something, looking to be the shape of old ship wreckage. The rocket launcher was lifted up, up, pointing to the top...

“Commander.” Adam’s face dropped once he realized what was happening. He could hear Zavala gasp once it clicked in his head as well.

“I want to make you a deal,” The King of Spades said. “One you can’t really refuse either way. A, you hand your little assistant over, I heal him. No harm is done. Or B...That rockslide isn’t going to cause itself, you know? So what’s it gonna be, Commander?”

"Why are you making this offer?" Zavala demanded.

“Why are you asking pointless questions when your friend there is bleeding out?” the King of Spades snarked. “A or B, Commander? There’s no C in this situation. No loopholes, no tricks, no lies.” He shrugged. “But I guess it’s on you who lives. I mean, you’ll be the sole survivor! Whatever story you tell will be the truth. No matter how people debate it, they won’t have the proof to proclaim any other truth.”

Adam cringed, continuously glancing at the cliff. “And why should we trust your word?”

The King of Spades smiled. “And a 3, and a 2, and a-”

“Enough!” Zavala snapped. “Do you swear that you’ll save Shiro?”

The King of Spades looked at Shiro barely conscious, spitting up blood onto his chest. “Of course. That’s the most truthful thing that’s left my mouth.”

Zavala looked at Adam, who continued to worriedly look between the Cyber Elf holding the rocket launcher and the cliff. Then, he looked at Shiro glancing up at him. He couldn’t articulate what he was thinking. But he did give a weak smile to Zavala. He trusted his decision, no matter what.

“...You really will?”

The King of Spades groaned. “Stop doubting me and make a choice already!”

Zavala’s heart pounded in his chest, He slowly loosened his grip on Shiro, but hesitated. Shiro noticed this, and quietly nodded once. He gave a small pat on Zavala’s chest. He’ll be okay. He had to be.

Zavala forced down the bad taste in his throat and held Shiro out. The King of Spades smiled in return, taking the limp man. He inspected Shiro with an almost sympathetic expression. He brushed some frazzled locks out of his face, making Shiro visibly grimace.

“Thanks,” the King of Spades commented. “He’ll be in good hands.”

Immediately, Zavala could feel this was a horrible choice. “What?! You said no deceiving!”

“Hm? Oh, I meant that you wouldn’t be able to. I never said anything about me.” The King of Spades turned away. “Take care of them, boys.”

Zavala didn’t have the time to curse out the King of Spades or yell Shiro’s name in despair. He was able to see Shiro begin to struggle with all of his weakened might, but that was it. A sudden shockwave from one of the Elves-Zavala couldn’t see which one-sent him and Adam back what felt like miles.

He heard the rocket fired. He wasn’t able to get up in time. Adam shrieked in pain as if his whole body was being torn apart. Then the rocks fell on him, and everything went cold and black.

For what felt like an eternity, his Ghost didn’t reach out to him. Maybe they waited until the Elves had left Mars or at least the general area. Or they just couldn’t reach his body because of the rockslide. So he was left in a state of limbo for however long, unable to be rezzed.

New life breathed into him. He gasped and choked for air, and a splitting pain occurred in his side. He grabbed at it, hissing with pain. His vision swam, and it took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the light around him.

He was in the back of a small jumpship. He had been lying on the ground, with no cushioning beneath him. He glanced down at his body. His armor was sliced open and dusty from the horrific weather on Mars. He must have been buried for days.

A sudden, terrifying thought crossed his mind. Immediately, he began to look around, staggering to his feet. This proved to be a bad idea, and he fell straight onto his face with a thud. He grunted in pain and tried unsuccessfully to get up again.

“Commander! Hey, Commander!” Zavala was helped up by a blue figure. “Take it easy. I don’t think you’re fully healed yet.”

“Wh...X?” Zavala squinted, the outlines of a humanoid body beginning to bolden. “Why are you...What...Where’s Adam?”

“Wyrick is alive,” X replied. “He’s on emergency life support at the moment. You guys had been buried underneath that rockslide for however long. We only found you by a miracle, and then we had to hurry out before the Cyber Elves spotted us.”

Zavala took a moment to consider this. “They’ve conquered all of Mars...” he realized. He then shook his head. “How is he?”

X suddenly fell silent. He looked away as if to avoid eye contact. At that, it felt like a stake was driven through Zavala’s chest.

“X.” Zavala tried hard to keep his voice stable and calm.

“The rockslide buried his entire lower body,” X slowly said. “By the time we arrived, his legs were completely destroyed. Even if we don’t need to amputate them, I...I don’t think he’ll be able to walk on his own again.”

That nauseating feeling returned to Zavala. Slowly, he sank to his knees. It felt like he wanted to vomit, but there was nothing in his stomach to hurl. He just gagged, doubling up against the floor while hot tears rolled down his face.

The door was thrown open, and it smacked against the wall. Two pairs of footsteps ran to Zavala’s side. When he looked up, he could see his two co-workers looking down at him with horror and concern.

“Holy shit,” Lucy murmured, taking in Zavala’s physical appearance. “You look worse than you did during the Red War.”

Ikora leaned forward to help him up. “What happened on Mars, Zavala?”

“We lost,” he curtly replied, letting Ikora yank him upright. “Horribly. It only took three days for them to overpower all of us.”

“Three...” Lucy gasped. “You and Shiro left eight days ago. Then you and Adam were buried for five days?!”

“No wonder he was barely clinging onto life,” Ikora uttered in horror. “He was in such an incredible amount of pain for so long.”

Zavala winced again. “Shiro,” he whimpered. “They took Shiro. He was hurt, he couldn’t defend himself, and that BASTARD TOOK HIM!”

Zavala suddenly turned and slammed his fist into the wall. His entire body crackled with Arc energy, and the ship shuddered. Everyone took a tentative step back, as if worried he’ll swing at them next. Nobody said anything. They just stared at him slowly removing his knuckles from the dent in the ship wall he created.

“What about Ana Bray?” Lucy began pressing further. “Rasputin? Come on, the people we were supposed to protect?!”

“They no doubt have Rasputin’s facility in their control now,” Zavala quietly reasoned. “And Ana Bray is amongst the fatalities, at worst. I don’t know.”

Lucy took in a sharp breath. Ikora bowed her head in shame. X looked away again, deciding that his boots looked much more interesting than the somber faces around him. A crushing feeling was suddenly weighing down on everybody.

“How many soldiers?” Lucy whispered. “How many marched to their deaths?”

“120,” Zavala replied.

Lucy lifted her face to show two glistening paths of tears. “And how many came back?”

“...Only Adam did. That’s one.”

Lucy said nothing. She didn’t cry out in sorrow. She didn’t wail against the heavens or curse the Umbra Mondo for making them suffer. All she did was turn and begin to head deeper into the small ship. The only noise that came from her was the opening and closing of the door she exited through.

“I’ll go check Adam’s vitals.” X excused himself, stepping out of a different door.

Ikora began to reach for Zavala’s shoulder. Maybe to comfort him, or to bolster his mood. Instead, he pulled his shoulder away, turning away from her and refusing to look her in the eye. She got the message and withdrew her hand. Saying nothing, she began to walk away as well, leaving him standing alone in the small storage room.

Zavala had nothing to say for once.


	4. Battle of Mars: Another Side

“You know, I hate to give it to the enemy, but modeling an entire interactive prison-like area in the digital world is kind of impressive.” Jolyon picked up a teacup to emphasize his words.

Lynaria stirred her own with a small spoon. “Do not give the enemy props, sniper.” She picked up her cup, then proceeded to admit, “However, it is nice that they give us so much freedom despite being practically prisoners of war.”

It’s been about two to three weeks since the five prisoners of war, Jolyon Till the Rachis, Lynaria, Lance McClain, Theodore, and Warlic the Blue Mage, have been “imprisoned” in a secluded part of the digital world. However, their “prison” didn’t feel like one at all. It was probably nicer than most in any kind of government.

There were no barred windows, no high fences, and no barbed wire. There was just a wide expanse of a red grid-like terrain with no end in sight. The buildings that housed them were of a higher quality than prison cells, though they weren’t five-star. And there were a lot of recreational facilities. Jolyon and Lynaria sat in one of them now: a simulated garden with an unlimited refills teapot that served what seemed to be called Griso Blossom Tea.

Day by day, more prisoners arrived, and the housing buildings expanded in size in less than a heartbeat. Some tried escaping, including their friend Warlic. None of those potential escapees were seen again, taken away to somewhere completely different. That’s why a lot of them have bided their time to see what will happen.

Jolyon sipped his tea. “You know, call me spoiled, but after a while, Griso Blossom becomes a bland taste.”

“Yes, especially when you’ve had nothing but it daily for drinks,” Lynaria agreed. She tossed her teacup carelessly over her shoulder, and it dissolved into data before it shattered on the tile ground.

Jolyon frowned. “There are other drink options,” he pointed out. “This is just the only option when it comes to tea.”

“I don’t drink such bland fluids,” Lynaria remarked.

“You take back what you just said about grape juice!” Jolyon declared.

Lynaria leaned back a bit but remained unfazed. “Carrot juice is better.”

Jolyon gasped dramatically. “You scoundrel!”

“Uh...” Both of them glanced at the garden entrance. Lance was wearing nothing but beach shorts and a confuzzled expression, with a white towel thrown over his shoulder. “Am I interrupting something?”

“Lance!” Jolyon called. “Which is better, carrot juice or grape juice?”

“Um...If we’re talking about fruits, I prefer papaya milkshakes,” Lance commented. “They’re soooo good in the summer!”

“No!” Jolyon slammed his fist on the table he and Lynaria were sitting at. “Grapes or carrots, Lance?!”

“You know, it’s funny that we’re supposed to be prisoners when we’re arguing over stuff like this,” Lance pointed out. “Aren’t we supposed to be getting brutally tortured?”

“Only the people who are taken away due to trying to escape are being brutally tortured,” Lynaria corrected. “However, yes. I do find it odd how Jolyon has the time to scream nonsense about fruit drinks.”

At that, Lance flinched. “Oh. That doesn’t bode well.”

Jolyon frowned. “What? What happened?”

“Well, Theo told me last night he was going to try and sneak out,” Lance explained. “And after my morning swim, I realized that he never went to the pool. I’ve been looking for him all morning.”

Lynaria sighed. “That does not bode well for him.”

“Do you think that he escaped, or that he got grabbed?” Jolyon asked.

Lance sighed. “Honestly, I’m expecting the latter,” he admitted. “We’re basically against gods in this place. He could have very well overestimated his abilities.”

“That does sound like a Titan,” Lynaria remarked, arms folded against her chest. “Overestimation of abilities.”

“That’s low,” Jolyon said.

“It’s the truth,” Lynaria calmly proclaimed.

Lance sighed. “Well, at least he’s going to figure out what happened to Warlic now?”

Theodore had been determined to return to his teacher by any means necessary. He’s already lost Jadir. Theodore needs to make sure he won’t lose him, too.

But in the middle of the night, somebody entered his room just as he was getting ready to go. He didn’t know how they timed it so perfectly, right when he was about to leave. They overpowered him in less than a second, grabbing his arms and forcing them behind his back. He couldn’t even scream for help before it all went black.

When he awoke, he jostled forward slightly. Something tight pressed down on his arms as he sat in what felt like a chair. There was no light source in the room. He couldn’t even see his own body in the darkness.

After a moment, some sort of beacon shone down on him. He jumped when the light revealed someone standing before him. It was one of the Weil children. Kazuichi, if his memory served him correctly. He was standing right in front of Theodore, looking at him with a soulless stare.

Attempting to stay calm, Theodore gave a sly grin. “May I help you?” he asked in a faux innocent tone.

“You were going to attempt an escape,” Kazuichi said blankly. “Did anyone else plan this with you?”

“Uh...No?” Theodore answered. “I was going solo.”

“You sound unsure.”

“Nah, you’re just hearing things. I was going on my own, cause everyone else was fine with just waiting around until the Alliance came to us.” Theodore huffed. “They don’t know the fun of taking risks.” He looked around. “Is this the place where you took Warlic?”

“You talk too much.” Kazuichi suddenly struck Theodore across the face.

Theodore’s head tilted to the side from the impact. “Ow!” He looked back. “What was that for?”

“I just said. You talk too much.”

Theodore righted himself in his chair as best as he could. “Yea. Whatever.”

"Do not show attitude."

A sudden and bright flash of pain coursed through Theodore's body. He screamed, lurching forward in his seat and doubling over as best as he could. Kazuichi stared down at him as he shook and gasped for breath, body spazzing in his bonds.

"Wh-Wha..." Theodore choked.

"If you want to see your friend so badly, then you will see him," Kazuichi declared.

Theodore didn't have time to process what he said. His vision gave out on him, and his body seemed to stop responding altogether. He lost consciousness not a moment later.

When he woke up again, he could feel his head throb. He raised a hand to rub his temple, then found out that he simply couldn't. Theodore lifted his head, fighting against gravity to do so, to look at himself.

He was tightly bound across his body and was hung upside down like meat on a rack. His ankles were tied securely to a metal pole, allowing him to simply dangle. It was too dark to see about five feet in front of him, but the neon-lit cords that secured him in place allowed some light around him.

As he looked around, he noticed someone else seems to be in the same predicament. He would recognize the blue robe and white hair anywhere. Warlic looked to be unconscious, mouth slightly parted as he dangled upside down.

"Warlic!" Theodore began to try and swing in his direction. "Yo! Warlic!"

"Mm..." Warlic winced a bit, then cracked open an eye. In the blue light, he looked extremely pale, or maybe he was. "Huh? Theodore? Is that you?"

"Hey, what happened to you?" Theodore asked. "You look like a ghost!"

"Feel like an undead, as well," Warlic admitted. "This place is probably the closest thing I can associate to hell. They've barely given me a chance to think straight. And the people they take away..."

Theodore looked surprised. "What? There are more people here?"

"I'm afraid more people come here than to where we initially ended up," Warlic said. "They get taken away for something. I do not know what, but they never return."

"What do you think they’re taken to?" Theodore asked.

Before Warlic answered, there was an audible grumble. "Could you keep it down? I'm finally starting to sleep for once."

Theodore looked over his shoulder at the third presence. "Wait...Aren't you Axl?"

The boy with the scar on his face looked over. "Uh, yea. How'd you know?"

"Dude, your brother's been worried sick about you."

"Is he?" Axl sighed. "That's good to know. Another addition to my already-large pile of anxiety."

Theodore looked back again. "Wait, Warlic. You said more people end up here than where we first started off."

"Yes, and after observation, I realized something," Warlic said. "It seems only Alliance soldiers go to the more lax prison first. Almost as if we're given the option to cooperate, and our safety and happiness will be guaranteed."

"Yea," Axl agreed. "Only when we tried to escape did we end up here. Everyone else is just some people that got stolen off the streets. Generally homeless people."

"People the public won't miss," Warlic clarified.

"Harsh, but you're right," Axl said.

Theodore frowned. "But why?" He questioned. "Why are the Alliance soldiers granted a chance at mercy, and homeless people are taken here immediately? I mean, what even is  _ here _ ?"

"Once you get the answer to that question, do kindly tell me," Warlic replied. "For now, I barely have the beginnings of a theory. I know for sure either the King of Spades or the Shadow King is running this, so it could be a case of sadistic pleasure. However, I feel like there's something more to this equation that I am missing."

"Such as why the hell do they need POWs strung up like butcher meat?" Axl questioned.

"And why POWs are even in their agenda," Warlic agreed. "Until then, I cannot come to a safe conclusion on anything."

"Right. Now I'm not tired anymore." Axl scowled. "Shit!"

"That's what you're upset about?!" Theodore was appropriately aghast.


	5. Battle of Mount Doomskull: Beginning

Drakath felt that something was wrong the moment he woke up. Most people would call it anxiety. He called it the sixth sense that told him blood will be shed by the end of the day.

He initially attributed it to the failure of the protection of Mars and the last warmind on the side of the Alliance. The Umbra Mondo’s forces had easily overpowered what soldiers they had there. The only two survivors, Commander Zavala and Adam Wyrick, wouldn’t come home until after being buried under a rockslide for five days. According to sources, Adam had been in intensive care since they returned, only barely able to avoid coming home in a body bag. There’s no way of telling how and if he’ll recover.

Well, the more the Alliance was distracted, the more he could sit at peace with himself. The Mother of Monsters grows even quieter by the day. He used to have the most annoying headaches from her. However, her silence tended to be a bad omen for things to come.

His inner voice argued that it was a bad idea to try and reach out to Lynaria's aura. Still, he felt himself subconsciously doing it. He knows she's been in an odd place since Zeta's death. He was able to feel Zeta be lost to some strange event. Perhaps it would be best for him to talk to Lynaria, in a form of comfort.

Instead of feeling her aura, his reaching out was repelled. Immediately, he sat up in his chair. A bolt of worry jolted his heart into motion. He tried again in a more frantic manner, with the same result.

Something was preventing him from feeling her through the magic they shared. He didn't know what, but no matter how hard he tried, there was no response on her end. His worry that he woke up with doubled in size.

As he tried a third time, someone else answered. A weaker link of Chaos, someone who had dabbled with it in the past. It formatted a question in his mind as it traveled through the ley lines to him. Who is this?

Drakath answered back. What has happened to Lynaria?

The Alliance soldier? She's in a coma.

Drakath didn't answer. He stood up in one moment, unfolding his wings the next. He abandoned Mount Doomskull at once, flying into the air.

Lynaria was hurt. Unable to talk to him. Worry had overloaded all sense in his mind. All he needed to know was if she was okay.

He focused on his magic to open a portal from here to the Collapsed Earth of the Last City. He found himself flying through clouds, soaring above the wreckage of old highways. He could see the Traveler in the distance, and below it, the Last City.

Within the city, Zavala was sitting at his desk in the Vanguard Hall. He had his head in his hands as if suffering from a headache. A stack of papers was beside him: written letters that would be sent to the families of the soldiers that fell in the Battle of Mars. Judging by the bags under his eyes, he had stayed up all night writing them.

He felt something placed on his back. A blanket was being draped over his shoulders. He looked up as Ikora let her hand linger on his shoulder before she pulled it away.

"Coffee?" She offered.

"Why can't Shiro do it?" Zavala asked without thinking.

Ikora winced. Reality came back to Zavala. With an audible grunt, he slipped his head back into his palms again.

"I apologize," he offered. "I wasn't thinking. Yes, I would."

On cue, a mug was placed next to him. "Black?"

"...Yes." Zavala took it. "Thank you."

Ikora watched Zavala's hands tremble as he picked it up. "You couldn't sleep last night, could you?"

"I can't tell where the guilt is from," he admitted. "It's either from letting so many people die, by letting Adam be permanently crippled from the waist down...Or from giving Shiro up so easily."

"We know from the report," Ikora comforted him. "There was no right decision in that situation."

"Why did he do it?" Zavala questioned. "Why did he push me down to take the shot? I would have been able to revive."

"Actually?" Both looked as Uldren entered. "You wouldn't have."

Ikora frowned, a bad feeling already building up in her stomach. "Uldren?"

Uldren set down a paper in front of Zavala. "My Blades found a fireteam of Guardians dead. They were led to them by their panicked Ghosts. They lost their connection of Light to them. They were gone." 

Ikora gasped as Zavala picked up the paper with one hand. "How is that possible?"

"All of the Guardians were killed by a single bullet," Uldren continued. "With a purple glow to them. We have belief it's the umbrite from the Umbra Mondo."

"The umbrite killed the Guardians because it is a metal of darkness," Zavala murmured. "Then did Shiro...?"

"He must have seen the bullet was made from umbrite," Ikora realized. "Zavala, that bullet was meant for you."

Nobody said anything at first. There was nothing that could be said. Zavala slowly hid his expression in his hands again, seeming to deflate more with every passing second.

"Why?" He murmured.

Uldren frowned. "Commander?"

"Why did he sacrifice himself to save me, of all people? I can't fathom even-"

Zavala was interrupted, unable to continue on a tangent of self-hatred. The doors to the Vanguard Hall were slammed open, and everybody inside jumped.

Lucy was barely able to take two steps in, saying, "We have a small problem-"

The door was blown off of its hinges. Lucy was sent flying into the room, shrieking before hitting the wall on the other side. As a hulking figure with his face shrouded in darkness entered in the destruction he caused, the three immediately drew their guns and stood to oppose him.

"Who are-?" Uldren began to demand.

Once again, the intruder didn't let him finish his sentence. He swiped a hand, smacking Uldren's pistol out of his grip. When Ikora stepped forward, he shoved her aside with a blast of purple magic. Now nothing stood between him and Zavala.

"Who...?" Zavala stepped backward.

"Where is she?" The figure thundered. "Where is Lynaria?"

"Wh..." Lucy lifted her head from laying on the ground. "The comatose soldier? What about her, you freak?"

The intruder was less than amused. "I am Drakath. Champion of Chaos and bringer of death to many. I have crushed rulers under my heel. I demand to know where my liaison to the Alliance is."

Uldren was helping up Lucy when he paused, dropping her again. "Your liaison is the quiet girl that refuses to make friends or even talk to people?"

"Silence. I shall treat no disrespect kindly, and not from one who has let his own loved one bleed out in a hospital."

Uldren drew his blade. "You are not about to talk about Keith like-"

"Silence!" Ikora snapped. "We are not about to create a warzone within the Vanguard Hall. If Drakath is not here to fight..."

"I am not," Drakath clarified. "However, your soldiers, especially the pink and white one, liked to shoot me as I entered."

"You landed in the middle of the hangar and just started waltzing along without saying anything!" Lucy argued. "If I didn't shoot at you, that would be job negligence!"

Drakath huffed. "A fair point."

Zavala slowly lowered his gun. "If you're only here about Lynaria...She is currently in a comatose state with four others after a mission gone wrong. We have no idea what happened to them, or how to wake them up."

Drakath sighed. "Useless, the lot of you."

"I'm sorry?" The corner of Ikora's mouth twitched.

"I will be taking Lynaria back to her home, where she will receive the care required to wake her." Drakath turned away. "Do not dare to try and stop me."

As he turned, he noticed someone standing in the wrecked doorway. He recognized her. She had dabbled in the power of Chaos before but found it too powerful to handle. She had been too weak to control such a potent weapon.

"Nythera?" Uldren called from behind him.

Drakath seemed to realize something. "It was you, wasn't it? You answered me when I called out, not Lynaria."

Nythera made a noise of disapproval. "I was almost convinced you were too dumb to have gotten it, mistaking me as some lesser Chaos creature. Then that means Lynaria is something more than such a lesser Chaos being, correct?"

Drakath was silent for a moment as if considering what he would say. "She can be considered my protege."

"Right. Well, I hate to break it to ya, but returning her to Mount Doomskull is a bad idea right about now."

Drakath narrowed his eyes. "Elaborate."

"Some nasty-looking Umbra Mondo soldiers are heading over there right now. And a battlefield is no place for anybody who can't perform in action."

Drakath audibly sighed, as if this was just another Tuesday to him. "I leave my mountain for merely an hour, and it is being sieged." He turned to the still-shaken up Vanguard. "All of you. Keep an eye on Lynaria while I go get rid of some pests."

"Of...course?" Zavala agreed, unsure of what to say.

"And you." Drakath looked at Nythera. "Tell me who these Umbra Mondo soldiers are. I want to know what I am up against."

Nythera shrugged. "Why not? As long as I get something in return."

Drakath raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"You tell me what was the point of sending a so-called liaison that doesn't even want to talk to people."

"...I can do without you." Drakath began to walk back on out of the Vanguard Hall.

As Uldren watched him go, he questioned, "Nythera, what the FUCK just happened?"

Ikora shook her head. "Forget about it. Nythera, is what you said true?"

Nythera nodded. "Yup. Troops led by the Weil son Kazuichi were spotted approaching Mount Doomskull from the east. When I sensed Drakath start to approach, I decided to come to meet him personally to tell him of the impending danger." She huffed. "But that asshole just shrugged me off. Well, it'll be his loss."

"Forget about it being 'his loss'," Uldren argued. "Drakath's never shown any hostility towards us. If we aid him, we could potentially gain his trust."

"Uldren, Drakath nearly caused the downfall of the Swordhaven monarchy," Ikora argued. "It's in the records. Why should we support an enemy of one of the factions under the Alliance banner?"

Nythera groaned. "Well, if you guys just bicker about it, I'll just go by myself."

Uldren blinked in surprise. "Whoa, whoa, what? Nythera?!"

Ignoring her superior, Nythera began to step back over what remained of the door on the ground. "He may be an asshole, but the enemy of our enemy is our friend! Don't try and stop me!"

"Hold on, wait!" Uldren began to give chase. "Nythera, I order you to come back here!"

Zavala and Ikora stood in place, staring out the hole created by Drakath. Lucy still laid on the ground, having never bothered to get up after Uldren dropped her. All three gave each other tired, but slightly amused glances, as if the strange encounter was just what was needed to lift some darkness shrouding their hearts.

Zavala collapsed in his chair again, making the coffee in his mug tremble. "Somebody get someone to fix the door."

"I'll do it," Ikora volunteered. "Lucy just seems content to wallow in her self-pity over there."

"Hey!" Lucy snapped, then looked. "We also need someone to fix the me-shaped dent I made. Also very important."


	6. Battle of Mount Doomskull: Halfway

Every day sent a fresh new spike of despair through Izuru's heart. The drawback of not being fully under the control of the King of Spades’ control was to have to watch his siblings fall deeper into it. Their minds were being consumed in a manner he was terrified of, but he could never let it show. Any wrong move could spell the death of him.

Dr. Weil always said he was a strange Cyber Elf. Every routine checkup would reveal some sort of second presence within him. And any attempt to fix it would never yield results. However, he's thankful for that. This strange second presence is the sole reason he's still conscious of what he's doing.

Recent events have been making him think. All of his siblings are now under the control of the King of Spades. Plan A failed, and now, so has Plan B. He needed to know if there was a Plan C.

The King of Spades monitored Izuru. He can't monitor Hajime. He doesn't have the corrupted data that places Cyber Elves under his watch. If he shifted into his second form, he'll be safe and under the radar for however long he wants to be.

There were no lights within the dank prison cells of the castle's dungeon. Hajime's form only gave off a small green glow that bounced off the stone walls. He shuddered at the thought of spending more than a few hours in such pitch darkness. Seraphina must have a will of steel.

She was sitting on the only furniture in her cell, a stone bench. Hajime didn't need to say anything as he stepped into sight. She looked up at him the moment she noticed the green glow.

Seraphina squinted a bit, and her arm lit up in blue fire to give her better light. "Wh...Hajime?" Her eyes went wide. She paused before looking at her arm. "I know. I'm surprised he's alive too, Sigma."

Hajime shrugged it off. "I need to know what Plan C is."

"Plan C?" Seraphina repeated.

"Plan A was to kill Yukio Izo with the NMMA. That did not work. Plan B was to bank on the Alliance to protect Nagito and eventually recover the Mother Elf to keep it in good hands."

"That failed?" Seraphina frowned. "Forgive me. Locked up in a cell like this, I'm not caught up on current events."

Hajime shook his head. "It didn't," he clarified. "So I need to know if you had any backup plans."

"That depends," Seraphina admitted. "What's going on at the moment? How much time do you have to talk?"

"Do people come down here often?" Hajime asked.

"Never," Seraphina responded.

"Then I have all the time in the world." Hajime phased through the bars, slipping through easily in his hardlight form. "Where do you want me to start?"

Seraphina paused for a moment. "To begin...What's happened to Nagito?"

Hajime sat on the bench next to her. "Corrupted," he answered. "Warped into somebody that I do not know. He calls himself by the last name Komaeda. The last name that his base data was logged as when you recovered us. He serves the King of Spades, but it's almost like he has an agenda of his own." Hajime shook his head. "He's using the Mother Elf to produce a Cyber Elf army. We're more advanced, too." Hajime placed his hand on Seraphina's shoulder, and she jumped. "Do you feel that?"

After a moment, Seraphina reached out to touch his fingers. "You're solid," she noted.

"All Cyber Elves now have hardlight forms. We can interact with the physical world."

"Perfect," Seraphina remarked. "And you said he's making an army? How exactly is that possible?"

Hajime grimaced. "They're stealing the consciousnesses of..." He trailed off.

Seraphina gasped. "No," she realized. "Real people?"

"Of all kinds. Humans, Reploids, Exos, Awoken...Nobody's safe. Any POWs are initially put in this more merciful prison, as if...The King of Spades favors them. I think we know why."

"Because of his time with them," Seraphina stated. "But regardless of the faux safety, their fates are the same?" She shook her head. "Did Nagito and Alter Ego make it to safety?"

"Nagito did. I'm not sure about Alter Ego. He suddenly vanished during the trip, I believe. I think only Nagito made it to the Last City safely."

Seraphina sighed, scowling. "And even that wasn't enough to protect him..."

"I already have a mental list of important POWs affected," Hajime clarified. "Takashi Shirogane. Warlic the Blue Mage from Lore. Lance McClain, the Red Paladin. There have been others, but those are the most important."

"Fuck. Shirogane?" Seraphina frowned. "You really do need a Plan C."

"Well, do you have it?" Hajime asked.

"...Did Insurrection's Abyss ever attempt to intervene to save Fuyuhiko?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Hajime admitted. "I never have read of any report that any sort of intervention occurred. Fuyuhiko's three-month imprisonment was uninterrupted."

"Then they'll be of no help," Seraphina remarked. "I know the type of person Kurami is. She would not abandon a person like Fuyuhiko in need unless it's for a very good reason. Something must be happening that prevents Insurrection's Abyss from helping us."

"Or perhaps Fuyuhiko was unable to get a message through to her?" Hajime suggested.

Seraphina scowled at the idea. "No...Then he would have had to have been completely preoccupied for about...five hours, right?"

"He was captured at around 3:30, and your warning email was sent at 10, so-"

"You knew about the email?" Seraphina froze.

Hajime slowly grimaced. "It had been intercepted by the Shadow King. It's how he knew you were a traitor."

"Then he did know all this time and was just toying with me," Seraphina murmured. "All this time, he was a step ahead of me, and let me run around thinking I was off scot-free. That bastard of a man..."

Hajime watched her arm glow blue, and she suddenly scowled. "Continue, Hajime. Ignore her ramblings."

Hajime leaned back a bit. "Whoa. Is that...you, Sigma?"

"Who else? I grow tired of this pandering. Get on with the supposed Plan C he is requesting."

As the blue glow ebbed away, Seraphina blinked. "I...R-Right, yes. Getting back on track, Fuyuhiko had to be occupied for five hours straight. I just don't see that. But if a message truly didn't get to Insurrection's Abyss, it may be unlikely that Wu Ming knows."

"Right, Wu Ming!" Hajime realized. "You can only contact him through Insurrection's Abyss. They're the only people who can find him."

"Hajime, I'm going to be honest," Seraphina admitted. "I don't have a Plan C. I just don't have the information to make one on the spot for you." She glanced at the stone floor. "And even if I do, there's a chance that Fox can just pry into my mind and see it, therefore plan for it. Whatever you plan to do, you need to do it without me."

"What?!" Hajime exclaimed. "But...What about you? I can get you out of here, I swear!"

Seraphina giggled but shook her head. "That's sweet of you. But your focus needs to be elsewhere than on me. Your siblings are depending on you. You're the only Weil sibling known to still be in the game, so you've got to play it instead of veering off-course out of the goodness in your heart. I'll be fine with just Sigma, believe me."

"Are you just saying that?" Hajime questioned.

Seraphina shook her head once more. "Nope. I've already survived a year in prison with this sucker. What's a few months more?"

Hajime stood up from sitting on the bench. "You...You are putting a lot of faith in me, Seraphina."

"Well, it's in a person who I can trust, at least." Seraphina grinned. "It's like what Wu Ming said once..."

Hajime smiled. "Trust is a loaded gun. You're right." He stepped towards the bars. "Whatever you plan to do, I send you the best of luck in doing it."

"I return the same feelings," Seraphina called as Hajime phased through her cell bars. "Good luck out there!"

'Out there' was a rough term. Seraphina had no idea where Hajime was going, or what he planned. And it didn't matter to her at the moment. She had been brewing her tactics while sitting in the cell. None of them have been put into action yet, and only time will tell if they will be. But it was good to keep her mind preoccupied.

Sigma hummed a bit.  _ "Staying put,"  _ he remarked.  _ "Are you sure this is a good idea?" _

"If worst comes to shove, I can just wipe my memory of this meeting, and you can remember for me," Seraphina answered. "The Shadow King can't check YOUR brain, can he?"

_ "Every time you play on the risky side, it's backfired on you,"  _ Sigma warned.

Seraphina shrugged. "One of these times," she returned. "One of these times, it'll work out for the best."

Mount Doomskull was quiet this morning. The last few days have seen a resurgence in war all around its base. But since the sun rose, only minor outcries could be heard across the chasm. It was a break, well-needed on both sides of the skirmish.

As Nythera sat on a rock, a rag and a bottle of water was held out to her. Confused, she looked up to see one of Drakath's Chaorrupted minions holding out the supplies.

"Thanks." Nythera took them both. "I guess."

All they did was give a silent nod in return. They turned on their heel and walked away, leaving her sitting there.

As she began to unscrew the cap, she looked to her left. Drakath was holding an orb of Chaos, staring into it. Whatever he could perceive, it seemed to frustrate him. His palm closed with a quick snap, and the orb shattered into magic.

Nythera frowned. "Still trying to connect to Lynaria?" She guessed.

'I do not understand," Drakath growled. "It is as if her consciousness is too far beyond my reach. Her presence is unknown to me, no matter how hard I search for it. It irritates me."

"Sounds like someone is worried," Nythera japed before taking a quick swig.

"Enough." Drakath turned to face her. "Tell me about what you know of the enemy."

Nythera lowered the bottle before saying, "It seems that the Weil son Kazuichi is the one leading the Cyber Elves to attack Mount Doomskull. I've been unable to see any other of his siblings in the field."

"And what does that mean for us?" Dralath pressed.

"Hey, I dunno!" Nythera snapped. "I barely know that guy. I don't know what his tactics are, or what he's good at."

Dralath sighed. "Then what DO you know, Blade?"

"That Cyber Elves seem to be in neverending supply." Nythera took another sip. "We have no idea how they're being made."

"Tell me how they are made."

"You need base data," Nythera said. "The basic building blocks of construction. Then you can convert those files into a basic Cyber Elf. That's what we've been fighting."

Dralath looked off at the sunset. "Then if we locate where they are obtaining this base data and cripple it, we will have won the battle?'

"Exactly," Nythera agreed. "Problem is, we don't have any idea to find out where it's from."

Dralath sighed. "You Alliance lots are even more useless than I thought."

"Then why'd you send a liaison to us?" Nythera questioned. "If we're as useless as you think, why's Lynaria one of our own?"

Drakath looked back at Nythera. He said nothing. For a moment, she thought that he was mad, agitated by her words. But upon looking at his face, he could see it softened, considering what she said seriously.

"To hide," he replied. "Nobody would anticipate Chaos to plant themselves amongst such weak soldiers. A perfect reverse tactic."

"Yea, I doubt it," Nythera snarked. "There has to be more to it than that. Were you trying to protect her from something or whatever?" When Drakath stopped again, she smiled. "Wait, is that it? You want her to be safe?"

"I am not required to answer your pointless questions," Drakath hissed. "This conversation is over. Get back to a defensive position, before they overrun us due to your neglect."

Nythera stood up and gave a mock salute. "Aye aye," she said before walking further down the mountain.

Drakath walked upwards the last few feet of stones. Sitting himself down in his chair, he planted his sword into the ground nearby and laced his fingers together. He seemed to be brooding, waiting for the enemy to come. But this fight was the last thing on his mind.

All he could think about was the village, smoldering and in ruins. The small girl crying and holding two katanas while sitting by who had to be her dead parents. He could never forget her sad expression as she looked up at him as if accepting he was there to kill her.

His black heart, fueled by the desire for vengeance and power, cracked at that face. Subconsciously, he raised a hand to beckon the child forward. He said nothing to sway her opinion. He even doubted that she would stand.

But stand she did. She wiped her tears and regained a firm expression before getting up on her shaky feet. She placed both large katanas under her left arm. She took Drakath's hand with her right and grabbed it tightly.

Lynaria's changed since then. Her hair was a brighter cyan, her eyes a more poisonous green. Bright colors always meant danger in nature. She gained the magic of Chaos few leveled to; wings to summon at will, and bending the power of chaorruption with a flick of her wrist. If any was to become a successor to the role of Champion of Chaos, it would be her.

But sometimes, he would see that small child with dull eyes and tear-soaked cheeks again. He never reached out to the child. Now, he wished that he had, at least once. Because he knows deep down that he will never see it again.


	7. Battle of Mount Doomskull: Ending

In Nythera's opinion, shit hit the fan the moment the initial defense line was overtaken by the fourth day of the fight. Drakath ignored the signs, called it an acceptable loss. He wasn't calling it that anymore by the sixth day, when their army of thousands was down to the dozens against the Cyber Elves.

Guns fired in the air, bullets, and lasers alike. War cries were replaced with dying, choked screams on both sides. At least a dash of blood existed on every rock decorating the mountain.

Nythera was standing by Drakath's throne. A gash welled blood on her side, making her hobble on her right leg. She had bruised the side of her head when a thrown Cyber Elf made an impact with her. Occasionally, she would stumble, but she always kept her footing.

Drakath, meanwhile, was untouched. He weaved through the air with ease, avoiding anybody who dared to fire at him. He slammed into the rock pathways occasionally, sending Cyber Elves flying into the air, sliced into pieces by his threatening sword. He seemed unfazed by the sheer numbers all around them.

When he took off into the sky again, he landed before his throne. "Nythera," he said. "Do not shy away from the fight."

"Oh, I'm sorry that I'm bleeding out," Nythera snarked. "I'll put a hold on that immediately."

Something was thrown between the two. Nythera's hair raised, and she lunged behind the throne for cover. Drakath noted this, and shot up into the air to avoid the object as well.

When it exploded, a good third of the throne was flung. The armrests crumbled under the grenade's power, and the backrest snapped in half. Nythera ducked, and the slab flew over her head and skidded on the floor.

Drakath landed again. He stared at the manmade crater for a moment. Then, he looked down the pathway at who threw it.

"Who dares?" He demanded.

Nythera peeked out to look at the culprit herself. It just happened to be the exact Weil sibling she had identified. Kazuichi had an entire sling of grenade launchers across his chest. He was currently pulling one off the sash, but hasn’t pulled the pin yet.

“Hi!” He cheerfully called with a toothy grin.

“A Weil child?” Drakath guessed.

Nythera nodded. “That would be Kazuichi Weil.” She stepped out from behind the destroyed throne. “Are you alone? Where are your siblings?”

“If you’re asking if none of my other siblings are present, they aren’t!” Kazuichi replied. “You have to be more exact with those kinds of requests!”

“You came here without your leader,” Drakath remarked. “A bold move on your behalf.”

“I don’t need him to beat the crap outta you, tough guy!” Kazuichi declared, moving to pull the pin.

Drakath made a confused gesture, as if Kazuichi really thought he could take him on. When he threw the grenade, he flew up into the air to avoid it. Spinning once, he dropped down upon Kazuichi, who barely could pull out another grenade before he was slammed straight through a rock wall.

Nythera sat up. “Wait!” She yelled. “Don’t kill him! The Alliance wants the Weil children alive!”

Drakath glanced to look at her, sword raised. “Then help me pacify him if you want him unharmed!” he growled.

Kazuichi scrambled up, drawing a sword from his back. Nythera noticed this and called forward a blast of magic in her hand. He noticed this and paused, immediately attempting to turn and run behind cover.

She threw the ball of magic as hard as she could, and he went arching into the air from the impact. He tumbled once, twice, then hit the rocks at the base of the stairs with an awful smack. Nythera couldn’t help but cringed as he bounced from the impact as if he was a bouncy ball.

She leaned forward to get a better look. Kazuichi wasn’t getting up, but his form wasn’t disintegrating. He hadn’t been killed by the blast.

“He’s still alive?!” Drakath exclaimed in an exasperated manner.

“I’m surprised, too,” Nythera murmured in admittance. “But I think he’s stunned. He’s not getting up.”

“What happened to ‘the Alliance wants him alive’, hm?”

“Shut up and stay focused.” Nythera pointed down the steps. “There’s more coming in fast!”

Drakath prepared his sword and swung it in a flourish. Two Cyber Elves were slashed in half by the waist and dissolved immediately. One more tried to lunge from the back and got slammed in the chest by his elbow for their efforts.

Nythera repelled those with guns trying to hit them from afar. A flourish of her hands sent a line of magic through the sky. This line slipped through all of the closest Cyber Elves, shredding through whatever it hit. Guns clattered to the ground and over the cliffside as forms shattered into nothing but green shreds with a satisfying noise of defeat.

“Nythera!” Drakath yelled. “Most, if not all of my forces have been destroyed now! It is just us now!”

Nythera growled in frustration. “They just keep coming, though!” She retorted. “We aren’t really about to take on an entire army, are we?”

“Do you want to live?” Drakath lifted his sword once more.

“Well, I don’t want to die,” Nythera responded, but unfolded both of her hands and let them glow with magic.

Just before the army reached them, a great cacophony of magic rang across all of Mount Doomskull. Rocks erupted into crystal blue explosions, and dozens upon hundreds of Cyber Elves were struck down by the blast. Nythera crouched to stabilize herself on the shaky ground, and Drakath stepped back to gain more stability on his legs.

“What?!” Drakath looked up.

A lone figure swirled overhead. The hood covered most of their hair, and a mask shrouded their face in the darkness. Black wings spread into the air, feathers shifting in the breeze. They stopped circling for a moment and stared down at the two.

Nythera slowly stood. “Is that...?” She guessed.

Drakath sighed. “I never believed I would be happy to see the Hero come to my aid.”

The Hero landed in front of the two, and their wings vanished. “You know, I didn’t HAVE to save you two.”

“Just felt like it?” Nythera snarked, crossing her arms.

“What is going on around this place?” The Hero looked back and forth. “I can hear this stuff all the way from Battleon. Cysero asked me to check it out. He said you guys have been giving him a headache.”

“Well, I’m sorry for inconveniencing someone’s day with our struggle for survival,” Nythera growled. “I hope you can tell him to suck it up once you go running back to him.”

Drakath suddenly lunged in front of Nythera, pushing her backward. She jumped back in alarm, tumbling onto her back. He had to hold his sword awkwardly to deflect a strike from Kazuichi, who had gotten back up while they had talked.

“Still, you persist?” Drakath seethed. “Give it up, Elf!”

“Ain’t gonna stop until I have no other option to!” Kazuichi replied. “And that means I’m gonna keep on going until I’ve gotten what I want!”

“Pathetic.” Drakath shoved him a good twenty feet back with his sword, and he once more tumbled down the pathway upwards. “A mere boy challenging me? I do not care if you have ascended beyond your natural plane of existence. If the Eternal Dragon of Time has not slain me yet, neither will a scrawny weakling like you.”

Kazuichi sat up, holding his chest. The wounds visible on him crackled with purple electricity as if he was corrupted. Confused, he stared at his sliced-up arm for a second. He was suddenly ignoring the three.

“That’s it?” The Hero complained. “No witty response from the villain? No one-liner that makes you question which side you truly believe in?”

“Forget it.” Nythera shrugged. “When you think about it, he’s just a kid. A child soldier, when you think about it.”

“Not comforting at all, Nythera,” They remarked in response.

Nythera stepped down the few rocks towards Kazuichi. “Kazuichi Weil? We only want to help you. We understand that your servitude to the King of Spades is dubious at best. If you surrender peacefully now and agree to cooperate with the Alliance, I can say on behalf of all of us that we will work hard to remove whatever controls you and forces you to work with your father’s killer.”

“My father’s...What?” Kazuichi looked up, stricken by genuine confusion.

Nythera’s face and voice softened. “Don’t you remember? Your father is dead. Killed by the man you now serve.”

“Huh?” Kazuichi slowly began to visibly break down. “Father? Father can’t be dead. He’s okay, waiting for us back home. Wait, what even is home?” He visibly twitched. “Something...w-wro-o-ong...”

Nythera began to approach. “Kazuichi, fight it! Fight his control!”

Kazuichi clutched at his head as his hardlight form began to fizz. “Not dead...not dead...not-not-not-not-kzzzzzzzzt-nooooooooot-” He began to drone as a broken record stuck on one part of a song.

“Kazuichi!” Nythera lunged forward.

A shrill noise rang in her eardrums. She could feel herself scream, but she couldn’t hear it. Her entire body was flung backward, wind flying past her. Then she could feel her back harshly smack a rock, and pain flared up all across her body.

By the time she regained her breath, black was dancing in her vision. She heaved, leaning to the side while choking on her saliva. A clawed hand was placed on her back, stabilizing her.

“Breathe.” Drakath’s voice was both faint and close to her. “You’re alright. Nothing seems to be broken.”

“What...?” Nythera choked out.

“Kazuichi must have pulled one of the pins on his grenades when we weren’t looking.” The Hero was there, too. “He used the explosion he created to get away.” There was an audible pause. “The Cyber Elves are pulling back, despite them outnumbering us one to a thousand.”

“Are you complaining about that?” Drakath questioned.

“Duh!” They replied with audible whining. “I would have gotten so much experience from so many enemies!”

“You are a very odd Hero,” Drakath remarked before returning his attention to the half-conscious Nythera. “Nythera. Are you still with us? Can you stand?”

“Yea. Yea, I think.” Nythera began to sit up. “Can still feel my legs.”

Just in case, the Hero pulled up Nythera to lean on them. “Hey, take it easy. You just got launched a good forty feet and blacked out for five minutes. You are at least a little stunned.”

“‘M fine, really.” Nythera rolled her eyes to the best of her ability. “I just need a healer.”

“That’s the opposite of fine!” The Hero argued.

Drakath huffed. “Are you both done bickering? Our business here is over.”

Nythera lifted her head. “Hmph, not even a ‘thank you’ from you? I almost got blown up just now for your stupid mountain.”

Drakath turned away. “...What did he want from here?”

“Huh?” The Hero frowned. “You mean Kazuichi?”

“His masters had sent him here for a reason. And he did not leave many details on what that was. But he seemed to acquire it, evidenced by their forces suddenly pulling back.” Drakath paused, then looked at his hand. “Could it have been that they sought for my death, but found it fruitless?” After a moment, he closed his eyes. “No,” he retorted to himself. “That does not sound right to me.”

As Drakath stared over the mountain edge, the Hero looked over at Nythera. “You should head back to the Alliance base. Tell them that defending Mount Doomskull was a success.”

“You’re not coming back?” Nythera sounded confused.

“I’ve got orders from Carla to investigate something on Mercury. Something about an incoming meteor? I wasn’t really listening.” The Hero took a glance at Drakath. “Besides, I want to talk to him about something.”

“Er...Alright.” Nythera shrugged. “I’ll just teleport home, then. Stay safe, Hero.”

Nythera raised her arm in the sky. Just like that, she was gone in a flash of light. A pillar of blue magic shot up into the air, taking her with it. The Hero stepped back, watching her go past the clouds and out of sight.

Before they could turn to look at him, Drakath spoke up. “What do you want from me, Hero?” He didn’t sound angry, just curious.

“I wanted to talk to you about Lynaria,” The Hero responded. “No jokes, no jabs. I really want to know if she’s just some pawn of yours or not.”

“...I’m sure you know of how I came to be.” Drakath looked up at the sky. “Prince Drakath Slugwrath, suddenly reduced to nothing but a mere bandit. Any and all attempts of reclaiming the throne were met with disaster, even what was almost my death.”

“And then the Queen of Monsters saved you, you wanted to repay her, descent into darkness, yea,” the Hero continued. “But I don’t understand why-”

“I was driven down this path because of my father!” Drakath suddenly declared. “His cruelties were paid with my own sweat and blood. Why was I the one who had to have suffered for what he did?” He then paused and looked away again, not bearing to make eye contact. “Why is that so common? For the child to be shunned and hated for what a parent has done to THEM? Why does it all exist...Abuse? Neglect? Loss? And hatred, but not to the world...to the parents.”

“That’s a...heavy subject.” The Hero spoke quietly, stepping to stand by the Drakath. “And I honestly can’t give you a good answer to why.”

“Her village burning down had nothing to do with me,” Drakath proclaimed. “All I took part in was being close enough to hear the screams. The blasts of magic, the wailing of a child...And when I approached, everyone but her was dead. And that small little girl did not speak. Only cried.”

“What happened?” The Hero asked.

“I dare not to know or ask,” Drakath answered. “That little girl couldn’t even tell me her name. It was like she forced herself to forget. She didn’t want to remember.” His scowl was lost, replaced by simply a sad expression. “I could not leave her there. Not by herself. Poor parental guidance lost me...What would be done to somebody who’s had no guidance at all?

“I extended my hand to her. I didn’t persuade her in any way. I didn’t speak, much like her. But she only hesitated for a single moment before taking my hand tightly, holding those gleaming katana she still uses today under her arm.”

The Hero’s eyes widened. “That little girl was LYNARIA?”

“Who else?” Drakath finally looked at the Hero. “Gone was the little girl. Whoever she was. The next day was the first day of the existence of Lynaria Slugwrath, heir to the title of Champion of Chaos.” He chuckled, suddenly smiling. “She picked out her name herself, you know. It was a dusty old library where she was reading a textbook on Swordhaven, scratching marks all over King Alteon’s face in purple pencil with the most adorable angry face. I will never forget looking for those ancient texts on the Queen of Monsters when she silently pointed out the deceased queen to me, saying the first word she’s spoken to me since we first met...”

“Lynaria...” The Hero muttered.

Drakath seemed to smile at the thought. “Lynaria,” he quietly agreed. “Of course, she was adamant about the different pronunciation. She pronounced it like ‘Lyn-AHR-ia’ when it’s supposed to be ‘Lyn-AIR-ia’. But she would not have it, let me tell you!”

He suddenly laughed. It wasn’t sinister in any way. It was genuine, a short peal suddenly drawn out by the memory. His posture also seemed more relaxed, with his sword completely lowered. The Hero dared not speak, potentially alerting or startling him. Instead, they admired this Drakath that has never been seen before.

“You two sound extremely close,” the Hero noted softly.

Drakath sighed. “Of course. She is a Slugwrath.” He then froze, and his eyes blew wide. “My daughter.”

The Hero noticed the air around them suddenly change. “Drakath?”

“That’s what they wanted.” Drakath turned towards the way the Cyber Elves came from. “They wanted some way to hurt my daughter. They tried to kill or main ME to hurt HER!”

The Hero paused for a moment. “Kazuichi had traces of Chaos on him. Do you think he could-?”

Drakath didn’t seem to listen to anything the Hero was planning to say afterward. He began to step past the ruined throne. He was approaching the strange arch that stood behind the stone seat.

The Hero always wondered what it was. Upon the close look that his position allowed, it actually seemed to be a gateway. Most of the runes were glowing bright purple on it. There were only two that were just carvings in the stone slab. The top carving was unlit, as well as one on the side.

The Hero began to follow Drakath to the arch. “Hey, what are you doing-?”

Since the climactic battle on Mount Doomskull ended with his rather humiliating defeat, the Queen of Monsters has always suspected that it was a sign of betrayal. Indeed, his faith in her had begun to waver at the last scene. It wasn’t helped when Lynaria began to voice her opinion by the tenth Chaos Lord that he was clearly being used by her.

This arch was one of the only gateways that would allow the Queen to enter the real realm. But it was also a gateway for the influx of the powers of Chaos to flow through him. Such a severing would deal what could be only described as torture to him. And yet, the idea of such a power being used to hurt his heir seared so much hotter in his mind.

The first sword swing had his blade dig into the stone partially. He heard the Queen of Monsters shriek in his mind. Already, he could feel his power slipping, being forcefully yanked from him. It was suddenly hard to breathe, and he struggled with regaining his sword from the stone.

Another blade joined in, this one on the right side. The Queen screamed again, and he glanced over. The Hero had chopped into the arch in the same manner, following Drakath’s lead. They only exchanged a single nod. Drakath didn’t think he could collect enough air to say anything.

With all of his might, he swung the same time as the Hero. Stone splintered and shattered all around. A string was cut, and a red-hot fire erupted in Drakath’s chest. But the shrieks were dying screams, even though they were masqueraded by his own.

The Hero stumbled back, visibly alarmed. They kept their sword brandished as purple fire erupted from every crack of Drakath’s armor. They could see the spikes and plates alike crack with magic, falling off around the man struggling to keep the magic within him.

There was a howling scream, and Drakath arched back. Half of his face, specifically the left, was lit up in white flames. His left eye was a milky white, with no iris in sight. His hair stood up instead of sweeping down, while his armor crumbled away and clattered to the ground around him. His ‘claws’ were still intact, now melding into his skin and creating a slow fade from a metallic slate to human flesh. His wings crumbled up, shriveling up like dry leaves before snapping off of his back, leaving behind two rivers of blood pouring down.

Slowly, he made a few hacking noises before he spat blood onto the ground. On shaky legs, he stood up slowly, leaning against the broken throne for support. The Hero immediately moved to help him sit down, holding his arm to be able to catch him if something went wrong.

“What the hell was that?” The Hero asked.

“That was me claiming Chaos as my own,” Drakath gasped. “I think I need a moment.”

“Think? You’re bleeding out from the back!” The Hero placed their hands on his shredded back. “Here, I’ll heal the worst of it, or it’ll scar and just be plain detrimental to you.”

Drakath waved them off. “Do not touch me. You said you were going to Mercury. Is it urgent?”

“Huh?” The Hero flinched back. “Well, sort of, but you’re still-”

“Go be the little errand child the Alliance wants you to be,” Drakath snarled. “I will return to the Last City in a moment. For now, I will be able to reach out to Lynaria much more easily without that foolish Queen in my way of things.”

“Um...Half of your face is still on fire.”

“It’s not painful.” Drakath shrugged, blinking normally as if the left side of his face wasn’t a purple inferno.

“IT’S NOT?!”


	8. Battle of Mount Doomskull: Another Side

Lynaria suddenly yelped in pain and held her chest. Jolyon, who had just been inspecting the garden’s tomatoes, whipped his head to look at her as Lance caught her before she fell on the tile walkway.

“Lynnie?!” Jolyon ran to her side as Lance gently laid her down.

“I think she just fainted!” Lance reported. “Does she normally do that?!”

“I don’t know!” Jolyon responded. “I barely know the girl, man!”

Lance put his head on her chest. “Can we still hear our heartbeats in the digital-?” He began to ask.

Lynaria suddenly sat up, gasping. Lance was flung forward by the immediate impact. Jolyon stepped back, as startled as she was.

She had woken up reaching a hand out. “My lord!” She yelled to nobody physically around her.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Lance snagged her as she sat up. “Careful with how fast you are sitting up.

After a moment, Lynaria gripped her chest. “I...It felt like my lord had just suddenly died, then was born again. It hurt, and yet, I feel so alive at the same time...”

“What are you even talking about?” Jolyon questioned. “Who’s your lord?”

Lynaria suddenly went quiet. “...I can feel him,” she murmured. “Calling out to me in a mournful manner, as a lonely mother wolf would...”

“Start talking sense and communicate to us what’s going on!” Lance exclaimed.

Lynaria only stood up and began to walk away. “I’m leaving.”

“What?!” Lance stood up. “Hold on, we don’t know what happens to those who try to escape! You could very well be marching to your death!”

“Maybe others were. Perhaps even that foolish mage Warlic. But I guess you’ve never known, so I have to spell it out for you.”

A flash of violet light temporarily blinded both the boys. They stumbled back, covering their eyes with their arms to shield themselves. After three seconds, the light faded, and there was the swooshing noise of wings. When they both lowered their arms to look, they could feel their jaws hitting the floor.

Lynaria was flying about six feet in the air. Large dracolich wings, shimmering with purple magic, were opened on her back. Purple fog leaked from milky white eyes that stared down at the two below her.

“I am a Slugwrath,” she commented, with her voice having an ethereal backing to it. “We are known for our perseverance through the darkest times. Now you may come with me, or I will gladly allow you to stay.”

“You aren’t...going to attempt to figure out what happened to our friends?” Jolyon asked.

Lynaria only looked away. “My lord is calling for me now. I will not linger around to be a detective.”

Lance shook his head. “Then I’m not going.”

Lynaria looked surprised. “What?”

“People are suffering here. It’s my job as a Paladin of Voltron to make sure they can get out of harm’s way safely. That includes my friends. Abandoning them to save my own hide won’t help anybody.”

“Fine, then,” Lynaria remarked. “Be a hero with no hope. There are plenty of those these days.” She glanced over to the right, where Jolyon stood. “And what about you, Jolyon Till? The Blade of Marmora worries for you.”

“Yea, but there are other people who weep for the loss of their friends and families,” Jolyon pointed out. “I’m not the only one. Like Lance said, fleeing now is only going to let them suffer more. As an honorary Blade of Marmora member, such an idea, fleeing to safety and ditching those who need me, makes my stomach sick.” He looked over at Lance. “I’m staying, as well.”

Lynaria sighed. “This is most likely your only chance of escape, and your narrow minds of heroism are preventing you from taking it?” She then shook her head. “Regardless, if you do plan to be the heroes...Good luck.”

Jolyon blinked. “Those are the most positive words I’ve ever heard from you.”

“Make sure you do not die, so they won’t become the only positive words I will say to you,” Lynaria added. “You can say that you’ve grown on me a bit, Jolyon Till.”

Jolyon smiled. “Happy to know that, Lynaria. Good luck.”

There were faint yelling and multiple footsteps. Lance grabbed Jolyon’s hand and began to pull him away from Lynaria, who immediately flew up into the digital void. She left a trail of violet magic that glitched away after a moment as she turned, then shot off into the distance towards the north.

The footsteps redirected, and the yelling grew more frantic. The Cyber Elves were taken by surprise by the sudden development. Lynaria had never shown signs of being a mage. The preparations against magic had not been taken with her. Because of this, Lynaria Slugwrath became the first person to successfully escape the system of prisoners the King of Spades oversaw.

Nobody was allowed to know of this. It was ordered that anybody who had witnessed her escape was to be confined immediately. Lance and Jolyon barely dodged a bullet, but a new one was being loaded at a rate too fast for them to flee.

Within the higher-security section of the prison, nobody could even hear rumors of the escape. Strung up tight with no way to escape, some were hauled off to fates unknown. Others were hung against the steel beams, waiting for whatever may come for them.

Warlic had his eyes closed, his white hair falling from gravity. He seemed to be meditating, waiting patiently for anything to happen. Behind him, Theodore was trying to swing back and forth out of boredom, while Axl attempted to lift himself upwards in a crunch. It was very hard to do this without his hands free and a stable surface on his back to support himself.

The door creaked open, and all three of them paused. Warlic cracked an eye open and glanced towards the light streaming through the door. Someone was being dragged in, seemingly limp and unconscious, by a normal Cyber Elf.

As they were being hung up, Theodore noticed the familiarity of their face. He would recognize the shock of white hair and the scar over his nose anywhere. He only had one arm, his organic one. His other, metallic arm seemed to have been removed entirely. Even the port for it was missing, replaced with a tied-up shirt sleeve.

When the Cyber Elf left, Theodore immediately began to rock himself towards the newcomer. “Sir!” He whisper-yelled. “Yo! Shiro! Wake up!”

“Mm...Huh?” Shiro slowly opened his eyes. “Wait, where...?”

“Welcome to prison!” Axl called. “I hope you enjoy your stay better than we have, sir!”

Shiro looked over. “Axl!” He exclaimed. “Warlic, Theodore! You’re all alright!”

“That is a stretch, to be sure,” Warlic commented. “Hanging upside down 24/7 with the only company being those trapped with you isn’t exactly alright.”

“Hey, are you saying you don’t enjoy our company?” Axl whined. “Harsh, man!”

“You don’t even try to talk to us!” Theodore added. “It’s your fault for being so bored!”

Warlic shook his head in disdain. “Shiro, what’s been going on? I’m afraid we’ve been out of the loop for a long while.”

“Well...Can’t say I’m different,” Shiro admitted. “There was an Alliance outpost stationed on Mars, and Zavala and I went to survey its ability to hold the position. The Umbra Mondo’s forces suddenly attacked us there and destroyed not only our communications but any transports to successfully flee. We lasted three days at best before we were overrun. I myself got shot and captured by the enemy.” He then frowned. “I was...barely conscious enough to help Zavala and Adam when they were attacked. I don’t even know if they’re okay or not.”

“Then the defense of the last Warmind was a failure?” Theodore guessed.

Shiro nodded to the best of his ability. “Right. That all was about a week or two ago. I don’t know how long it’s been since May 21st. That was when Mars fell.”

“Oh, wow,” Axl commented. “It could be June right now. Oh, how the year flew by.”

“That’s not important,” Warlic reasoned. “What happened to you afterward?”

Shiro sighed. “It’s all a blur,” he continued. “They performed surgery on my lung that collapsed from the bullet I was shot with. I know that. But I must have been under heavy anesthesia because I can’t remember much else.” He glanced at his shoulder. “They must have taken my arm to make me less of a threat.”

“Guess you could say that they de-armed you!” Theodore cried out with a laugh.

Axl grinned. “Good one, Theo!”

“This is not the time for joking around,” Warlic growled. “Is that all you can tell us, Shiro?”

Shiro frowned. “I know it isn’t much,” he said. “But that really is all I can tell you for certain. I’m sorry if you expected something more.”

“No, it’s fine.” Warlic looked aside. “I was hoping that we would have been able to figure out why we’re here.”

“You mean as prisoners?” Shiro asked.

“Well, we haven’t been executed for a reason,” Theodore pointed out. “You got any theories on that, Shiro?”

Shiro tilted his head. “No...Can’t say why. Maybe ransom?”

“You are certainly worth a lot, politically thinking,” Axl admitted. “You’re the assistant to the de facto leader of the whole Alliance government. But that wouldn’t explain why I’M alive.”

“He has a point,” Warlic remarked. “If we use positions within the army, Axl’s just a soldier that shares a body with another. There isn’t any political gain from such a hostage.”

“Maybe research on specimens?” Theodore tried out. “They do have a head researcher.”

“Every government should have a head researcher, dipshit,” Axl pointed out. “It isn’t strange.”

Shiro suddenly paused. “Research...Like researching on the Mother Elf...?”

“Do you have a train of thought going there, Shiro?” Warlic stared at the assistant.

“I’ve got one, but...No, it can’t be right.” He hesitated. “Can it?”

“Spit it out!” Axl complained. “Don’t leave us hanging, man!” He paused before looking at himself. “I’m not speaking literally there.”

“I noticed something strange with the army sent to fight us,” Shiro began. “They all were Cyber Elves. But I initially thought otherwise, because that sounded impossible to me. There had been no way to manufacture so many Cyber Elves that their numbers seemed limitless. Where would all of the base data come from?”

“Homeless people.”

Shiro looked over at Warlic, who had a look of growing dread. “What?”

“Homeless people. Other timelines. Hostages.” Warlic suddenly looked at the other three. “The options for claiming base data via stealing one’s consciousness are unlimited. This is the Shadow King we are debating. His heart is as black as it can get.”

“There WAS a sudden drop in homeless people in a few countries,” Shiro murmured. “During one of the older council meetings, nobody claimed responsibility for the disappearances.”

“And how long ago was that?” Theodore asked.

“Before New Year’s,” Shiro slowly said. “Back in December. They’ve still been on the decline since.”

Axl looked terrified. “This fucker of a king has been planning something like this for that long?”

“No wonder it seemed to you that there were so many,” Warlic growled. “He had a surplus of people at his disposal. Nobody would miss those plucked off the streets.”

“Then does that mean that we’re...?” Theodore murmured with horror.

“Conversion,” Shiro stated out loud. “We’re slated for conversion into mindless Cyber Elves to help kill the very people we care for.”


	9. Battle of Mercury: Beginning

“Keya, please leave the canopy now.” Osiris looked up at a particularly thick cluster of reddened trees. He had climbed up on a few dusty rocks to try and reach the leaves.

A head peeked out, accompanied by a wild frizzle of hair. “No!” Keya shortly declared before going back inside.

Osiris sighed, looking to his side. “See what you have done, Saint?”

Saint-14 stood just below the rocks Osiris had clambered up on, bewildered. “I see no problem, Osiris. She has books, snacks, blankets, and a sturdy platform.”

“Exactly!” Osiris groaned. “She SAID that she wants to learn how to use her chronomancy on Mercury, and that is why she is still here. But since you keep giving her gifts, she’s completely forgotten about that goal!”

“Am I not supposed to give love to little bord?” Saint sounded disappointed in Osiris.

“I mean...” Osiris stuttered for a moment. “Not really. We’re supposed to be her tutors, but all we’re doing is pampering her endlessly.”

“There is nothing wrong with pampering!” Saint complained as Ambrosia jumped up onto his shoulder. He began reaching for the snacks he kept on him. “Little bord had a bad life. I want to make it up to her.”

“But we’re not her parents,” Osiris argued, beginning to hop down the rocks. He found it pointless to argue with the stubborn Keya any longer than he had to.

“Nobody is!” Saint retorted. “Does that stop them from caring for her? No! Now if you excuse me, I wanted to give Keya a new book.” He suddenly pulled a novel of what had to be about seven-hundred pages long. “It’s about two princesses going on a journey of romance and war!”

Osiris tilted his head slightly. “I didn’t know Keya was interested in knights and princesses.”

“No, the princesses fall in love with each other.” Saint sounded exasperated immediately. “I said nothing about knights, Osiris.”

He seemed embarrassed immediately. “Oh...When you said princesses and romance, I automatically assumed that...” He rubbed his head. “Forget it.” He turned to look up again. “Keya, may you-?”

“Hold on!” Keya suddenly poked out of the tree, slipping down. “Someone’s flying in!”

Saint looked up from petting Ambrosia while feeding him a biscuit. “What? What do you mean?”

Keya began climbing down from her spot in the tree. “On wings on their back! They’re coming in through a portal in the sky!” She then pointed upwards. “Look!”

Osiris looked up, frowning underneath his mask. In the sky, a blue vortex was blended in amongst the clouds. Someone was indeed flying into the Mercury air through the shimmering light, on raven black wings. They circled once before hovering in the air, then suddenly dropping down.

It took a moment to register they were heading for the group. Osiris immediately reached for Keya, pulling her off of the rocks the rest of the way and into his arms. Saint lunged in front of Osiris, pulling out his shotgun while Ambrosia hissed at the figure, digging his claws into Saint’s pauldron to stabilize himself.

Immediately, they stopped midair a few feet away, hands raised. “Friendly!” They called through their mask. “Carla Vasiliev-Brask sent me!”

Saint had yet to lower his shotgun. “And how do we know that for sure?”

The person slowly lowered themselves onto their feet a good six feet away. “Keya’s favorite book is ‘They Both Die At The End’, by Adam Silvera. Ambrosia’s favorite treat is the juice from the fruits he is named after.”

Keya immediately began squirming her way out of Osiris’s arms. “They’re telling the truth, Osiris.”

Osiris slowly let her stand. “You have a code system with Carla?”

“Hey, you can never be too careful!” Keya pouted. “We’re in a war, you know! It’s common to have code words for safety precautions!” She frowned. “But why did Carla send you, mister...?”

“Oh, I go by they/them,” they politely corrected her. “And it’s just the Hero. It’s much simpler when everyone already calls me that, so it’s just a nickname.”

“Oh! I’m very sorry!” Keya bowed slightly in respect. “Thank you for correcting me.”

“And as for why I’m here? Carla wanted to give you guys a heads up that a meteor is approaching Mercury.”

“Really, now?” Osiris looked up at the sky. “When will it arrive?”

“Oh, two or three days,” the Hero said. “But Carla said she’s been monitoring it for a while with Katie Holt for a few good months or so now. It’s expected trajectory won’t put any of this surrounding area in danger. It’s most likely that it’ll just hit somewhere on the other side of the planet, or at the very least miles away from here.”

“Good,” Saint remarked. “I do not believe the Sundial is built to be meteor-proof.”

Osiris chuckled a bit. “No, it isn’t. Though why are you telling us this if it doesn’t involve us in any way?”

“Carla detected some weird energy spikes coming off of it,” the Hero responded. “It links up to what she refers to as ‘nebula angels’...Whatever those are.” They scratched the back of their head.

Keya’s head suddenly popped up. “Nebula angel?” Ambrosia suddenly began to meow, as if anxious by this.

“Yea, those. You know of them?”

“Our secluded cousins, they can be called,” Keya replied. “While there have been some cases of chrono angels emerging to deal with universal situations, the nebula angels never bother to leave their home of Andromeda. We haven’t heard from them in millenium. Some of us thought they just have died off by now.”

“Carla doesn’t know what exactly is making the meteor have that energy,” the Hero said. “She hasn’t even seen what it looks like. That’s why she sent me here. She wanted me to investigate it once it lands on Mercury’s surface. I just thought it would be best to give you all a heads-up that I’ll be in the area for a few days.”

“I see.” Osiris nodded. “Thank you for the alert, then.”

“Oh!” The Hero suddenly pulled off the bag on their shoulders. “I think Carla wanted to give you guys something.”

Osiris watched them stick their whole arm into the large bag. “For us?” he questioned. “Are they files of importance?”

“Nope.” The Hero pulled out a box about the length of their arm. “It’s chocolate.”

Keya seemed to recognize the box. “Is that the stuff Carla makes?” She scampered up to the Hero, reaching out for the box. “I haven’t had one in years!”

The Hero handed it over, placing it in her grabby hands. “Yea, Carla told me to take extra good care of it. It’s pretty hard to make, from what I’ve heard.”

Saint watched Keya run back to stand by him and Osiris. “I do not get it,” he remarked. “What makes the chocolate so special?”

“Carla puts ambrosia in the mixture!” Keya replied. As she opened the tin, Osiris could see taffy-sized treats wrapped in clear foil. “It can heal all given wounds, and make you feel all warm and fuzzy! She doesn’t make this often because ambrosia is so hard to get. It only grows in rare sprout clusters in random soil ground.”

Osiris seemed worried. “Like drugs?”

“Yo, I wouldn’t give a kid drugs!” The Hero panicked. “I made sure with Carla that it was okay for her.”

“I’m not a kid! I’m just sixteen in a tiny body!”

“That is still not a good age for drugs!” Saint pointed out with a hint of worry.

“No age is good for drugs!” Osiris argued as Keya just began to ignore them, unwrapping a piece of chocolate and passing it to Ambrosia, who began to nibble at it.

The Hero noticed this. “Wait, noooooo!”

They suddenly swooped in, yanking up Ambrosia. The poor feline, who just was whisked away from such a sweet treat, lashed out immediately, flailing in their arms. The Hero held them out, even though their face was covered by metal, to avoid his wrath in bites and scratches.

Saint immediately took Ambrosia. “No, no! There there, koshka.” He began to pet the agitated cat. “It is alright. No harm will be done.” As he slowly relaxed, Saint looked at the Hero. “Why did you scare koshka, Hero?!” he snapped.

“Keya was about to feed koshka chocolate!” The Hero argued. “That’s toxic to cats!”

Osiris looked worried at Keya. “Keya, you do know that chocolate is toxic to cats, right?”

“Not to Ambrosia!” Keya argued. “He eats chocolate just fine! He’s never been sick once because of the treats!”

Saint seemed to believe that. “Ambrosia is definitely not a normal cat.” He pointed out the blue tufts on the cat’s ears and tail to prove his point.

Osiris took one of the chocolate candies out of the tin. “Maybe the ambrosia infusion offsets the chocolate toxicity, then?” He wondered to himself quietly. He began to unpeel one as if he was about to eat it.

Before he unwrapped the other half, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He lifted his head to see it more clearly. Keya had suddenly frozen in place, eyes glowing a brighter blue. She was having another vision again.

Osiris gently rewrapped the candy and placed it back in the tin she was still holding. He knelt in front of her to wait patiently. She almost always talked about what she saw in the visions. And it wouldn’t deny that he is interested in what she usually saw.

When she began to blink a few times, he softly inquired, “Keya?”

Keys suddenly snapped to attention. “Osiris, LOOK OUT!” She suddenly dropped the tin and shoved Osiris backward onto the dirt.

The sound of the impact of his body hitting the ground was muffled by a sudden blast of purple fire. The Hero, who was standing before Keya and Osiris, weaved to the side to avoid a high-velocity fireball. The tree behind them was engulfed in flames in an instant, crackling under the might of the violet flames devouring its bark and leaves.

“Osiris!” Saint yelled before pulling out his shotgun and opening fire as Ambrosia leaped towards Keya’s side.

Osiris sat up and grabbed Keya. Rolling away from where they just were, he held the much smaller girl close to his chest. He could see the Hero lunge at somebody out of his vision while drawing their sword, and he could hear flesh being slashed open.

“Stay down and behind me, Keya!” Osiris barked before getting up, pulling out his gun.

When he turned, he could count four Umbrati. Two of them had open tomes in one hand, and a magic sigil swirling around the other. The other two were holding melee weapons crafted from a violet metal pulsing with umbra power. Saint was fending off both of the mages while the Hero dueled one of the melee attackers. The second was running at Osiris and Keya cowering behind him.

Osiris quickly opened fire. The Umbrati was gunned down before it got any closer to the two. It evaporated into a black mist in front of his eyes, and the sword they held clattered on the ground.

Saint forced both of the mages to the ground, holding them each by the neck. He threw one over his shoulder into a tree, and Osiris could hear something snap within their body. When they fell on the ground and did not get up, Saint proceeded to slam his fist into the other's face repeatedly.

The Hero struck down their opponent, slicing through what armor they had. They twirled around, not facing the Umbrati as they fell to the ground. Plumes of smoke from the bodies rose into the air, leaving no trace of existence behind.

Even with the visible threats gone, Osiris still pointed around his gun. "Are there any more?"

Keya looked up. "Many." Osiris looked down at her. "They're here for something. Looking for something that they want." She placed a hand to her head. "They're being led by an Umbrati...One I do not recognize."

Osiris looked around. "Are they close, Keya?'

"I...I do not know. I can't infer where they are right now."

"Saint!" Osiris gestured for the Titan to come over. "Take Keya and fall back to the Sundial, where we'll have a better advantage in terrain. Hero, I want you to stay with me while we secure the outskirts."

"Sounds like a good idea," the Hero agreed. "But at the same time, we shouldn't stray too far away from each other."

Osiris nodded. "We'll linger farther away, and keep an eye on you both."

"Please be safe," Keya begged while picking up the candy tin she dropped. Only a few chocolate candies had fallen out. "I don't know what they want, but it obviously isn't good."

Saint took Keya's hand. "Come now, little bord. The Sundial will be safer than the shade these trees cast on us all."

The group of five split into two and three. Ambrosia followed closely by Keya as she ran right behind Saint, who kept his shotgun close to his chest and a finger on the trigger. Meanwhile, Osiris and the Hero began to run along the treeline, watching for any movement that alerted them to possible hostile Umbrati close nearby.

The Umbrati leading them all that Keya had seen in her vision was named Abanus. He was a shorter fellow, with a robe of white, black, and blue covering his body. It almost looked like chrono angel clothing, judging by the colors alone. However, the person wearing the fabric was anything but angelic.

He watched from afar through the shadows. He initially kept his eyes on the Hero but began to disregard them once they started slashing through any nearby Umbrati soldiers with ease. Instead, he slipped out further in the shadows, towards the great spire of Osiris's hard work.

Saint had already made it there, on high alert. Abanus watched from the darkness as he swiveled around his shotgun with a wary eye. Sitting by him on the steps towards the Sundial was the subject he wished to acquire.

She, too, seemed worried. Saint's paranoid air seemed to be rubbing off on her. She was nibbling on some candy from the tin she held, constantly looking over her shoulder. She occasionally scratched behind her kitty's ear, though they didn't purr at all.

His lord the Shadow King gave him a goal. An objective to strive for. Engineer a catastrophic weapon against the species Abanus so dearly wished to study. Then, he could have all the subjects he wished for. He could even be granted the ability to make a doomsday device of chronomancy; in the name of the king, of course.

Sieging Shion would fail from the start. The chrono angels would wipe out any soldiers on their home territory. The Hero, the reincarnation of the very dragon that birthed the angels, was too dangerous to be approached. They would just simply escape on their own. The chrono angel in the resistance was outright elusive. And the two in the Last City could never be stolen away without an army at the heels of the kidnappers.

So Abanus has set his sights on the easiest prey. A tiny little girl, with only two Guardians to protect her. Once the communications were cut, it would be all over for them.

Abanus could not wait to begin studying the subject. He was already mapping out his favorite plans of experimentation.


	10. Battle of Mercury: Halfway

Seraphina lifted her head slightly when the door to her cell creaked open. Initially, she began to mentally prepare herself for another day of torture. The Shadow King's already gotten all she would ever give up on the resistance. By now, he just wants to torture her because he can.

Instead, she paused with a frown. Mirage was entering, with no weapon on him. He was looking over his shoulder as if worried that somebody could find him here.

"Mirage?" Seraphina questioned.

"Don't say that," Mirage suddenly snarled, slamming the cell door closed.

Seraphina flinched at the sudden anger. "Why shouldn't I? It is your name."

"You speak in a tone that implies that we are on an amicable basis." Mirage scowled under his scarf. "We are not, prisoner. Do not refer to me by name."

Seraphina sighed. "What are you here for?"

"The ring." Mirage held out his hand. "Give me your ring of engagement."

Seraphina took a few seconds to register what he was requesting before she suddenly laughed. Mirage paused, frowning. If he didn't know better, he would believe that she was enjoying this conversation.

"That's it?" She snarked. "That's how we divorce, love?"

Mirage's left hand clenched around Seraphina's neck. Taken by surprise, she gasped and struggled. Mirage hoisted her off of her bench and slammed her against the stone wall, holding her high enough so her feet dangled without touching the ground.

"Speak one more word in such a manner, and I will have your tongue eviscerated," Mirage warned with a growl. "I do not care what the Shadow King would think of it."

Mirage let go, and Seraphina fell to her knees. She sucked in a deep breath of air, clutching her cloak close to her like a blanket.

Seraphina pulled herself back up, shaking at the knees. "Well...I've already cast it aside."

Mirage turned to glance at her. "What?"

"I threw it away." Seraphina smiled. "It took you a good year to notice, did it?"

"...When?"

"August of last year," Seraphina replied. "It's about May or June now, last I was able to check, so that is mostly a year." She shrugged. "I merely took it off at first, to see if you noticed. When you didn't, I threw it away. It had no worth to either of us, did it?"

Mirage did not answer. He simply looked away from her and began walking to the cell door, most likely to leave her sitting there.

"Mirage, did we ever even love each other?" Seraphina dared to ask.

"I guess not," was the immediate response. "I wonder if the love Fox and the previous Queen spoke of existed at all, or if it was a fruitless tactic to keep a scoundrel like you in line."

"Then in that case..." Seraphina took a tentative step towards Mirage. "What other parts of our lives told to us were lies?"

"Excuse me?" Mirage looked back at her, but he didn't lash out at her again.

"We don't even know the name of the kingdom we supposedly ruled. Fox said that it doesn't matter, since it's destroyed, but is he lying? Were we never king and queen at all?"

Mirage huffed. "Lord Fox would not make up such a ludicrous backstory."

“Alright, then. If you are so confident in Fox, list the names of at least two personal guardsmen.” Seraphina crossed her arms. “All kings and queens have personal guardsmen or handmaidens.”

Mirage turned and threw a punch. It scored Seraphina across the face. Her vision went white, and her emergency systems blared in response to the damage. The force of his fist sent her careening into the ground, slamming once more into the hard stone around her.

As she laid there, sputtering and gasping, he said nothing. Mirage simply turned and walked out of the cell. He slammed it behind him, the sound echoing around Seraphina.

Finally, a flame of blue coaxed itself out of her arm.  _ “It was not a good idea to goad him on,”  _ Sigma chided her.

“I know.” Seraphina stood up, rubbing her jaw. “But at least I’ve confirmed something to myself.”

_ “And that is?”  _ Sigma asked.

“Mirage is so blindly loyal to Fox that he simply will not face the obvious facts.” Seraphina sat down on the bench again, her only piece of furniture in her imprisonment.

_ “Enlighten me with what these obvious facts are, and maybe I’ll agree with you.” _

“Without evidence, we cannot conclude that we ruled anything at all. Instead, right from the start, Fox, and by extent the Shadow Queen, commandeered and used us as nothing but puppets. Step out of line?” Seraphina gestured around. “Well, you can see how my drive to follow a decent moral code wound me up here.”

Sigma sighed.  _ “Which is still entirely your fault. I detest having to be imprisoned and only able to talk to and observe you.” _

Seraphina leaned back against the wall. “Isn’t that your only state of matter, regardless of being in a cell?”

_ “Yes. Which is why I hate it so.” _

As Seraphina spoke to mostly herself, Mercury faced a conquerable siege. The Umbrati came in droves, enough to combat a whole army. They were swiftly sent back to their gods the moment Saint set eyes on them. One would think a thousand men protected the planet. Instead, it was just a very protective Russian robot who loved punching.

The Hero did try to help him. But there was nothing to help him with. He had no wounds that needed to be healed. And no matter how many Umbrati ran forward, Saint sent them packing once more with headbutts powerful enough to bowl over an entire line of soldiers. It both impressed and terrified the Hero.

Saint was just finishing up the last of the stragglers as Osiris and Keya sat on the steps of the Sundial. Osiris was playing with a line of cubes in his hands, with Ambrosia peeking over his shoulder. Keya was watching the Hero play with her game console, repeatedly trying to tell them good ideas only for them to fall on deaf ears. It frustrated her when the Hero kept losing to problems that could be easily solved if they used their brain.

Osiris looked up as the last Umbrati rocketed across the area. “Is that all of them?”

Saint dusted his hands. “Indeed, Osiris! I say we now have a few hours to relax before they send more!”

“Are you certain you don’t want our help?” The Hero asked, passing the console back to Keya. “You’ve been fighting for a straight ten hours now. Aren’t you exhausted?”

After a moment, Saint suddenly deflated, as if lethargy slammed into him as hard as he punched Umbrati. “Oh...It has been that long?”

“It’s been a full day since they initially started attacking,” Osiris confirmed. “With the small breaks you’ve been having here and there, I would agree with the assumption of ten hours of fighting.”

“And there goes the adrenaline...” Saint lumbered over to Osiris. “Osiris?”

“Yes, Saint?” Osiris seemed concerned. “Do you not feel well? You most certainly have pushed your limits.”

Saint suddenly made grabbing motions. “You are warm. I require soft cuddles.”

Keya stood up. “I’m on it!”

“Sorry, little bord, but Osiris is bigger. He will give more warmth.”

Osiris immediately froze up. “...I’m sorry?” He inquired in a flat tone.

“I have seen you cuddle with little bord!” Saint protested. “Why not with me?”   
  


“I-I have never done such a thing!” Osiris tried to save face. “Hero, do not listen to him.”

Keya frowned. “Don’t lie, you have! I’ve even seen you without your helmet, and you are very beautiful! Though yes, you DO look like a grandpa that’s made some very bad choices in life and has been divorced twice.”

“Keya, I fail to see how that helps either of us!” Osiris snapped as she merely smiled back at him.

The Hero only laughed. “Come on, Saint’s worked hard. Just hug him already!”

“Hug him! Hug him! Hug him!” Keya began to chant.

Osiris tried to ignore the two as best as he could. He could feel himself begin to burn up underneath his helmet. Slowly, his gaze went from the two to Saint, who continued to watch expectantly underneath his helmet. His arms were still extended towards Osiris.

As if weighed down by heavy stones, Osiris slowly shuffled over. He did not extend his arms in return. He only softly thunked against Saint’s armor, head against the shoulder.

Saint immediately hugged him closely. Warmth radiated off of him, though Osiris couldn’t tell if it was from his Light, or the body temperature having been worked up from such a draining battle.

“Why do you look so upset?” Keya complained. “Be happy!”

“This is more awkward than I ever imagined,” Osiris grumbled.

“You hold little bord just fine!” Saint pouted. “How am I any different? I’m only a little bigger.”

“Saint, she is only a third your size, not to mention much skinnier,” Osiris pointed out. “She’s much easier to hold.”

“Are you saying I am fat, Osiris?”

“Muscled, not fat!” Osiris looked embarrassed and out of place in Saint’s arms.

The Hero looked at Keya as she watched the two. “Is this normal here?”

“Oh, all the time,” Keya commented. “It’s like they’re married, but they still haven’t gotten over the awkward first love phrase, even five to ten years in.”

“You love to be descriptive,” the Hero noted.

“It’s one of the only things I’m good at,” Keya admitted. “Using complicated and long-winded sentences. I did review many texts in different genres and flavors.” The Hero tilted their head. “I read a lot of books. That was basically my entire childhood, being in Shion’s library.”

“Shion? That place the chrono angels live in?” The Hero looked up.

Keya did the same. “Yea, that’s the one.”

“Then if you lived up there, how long have you been...you know, down here?” The Hero gestured around.

Keya pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. “That depends on what you mean. I was out of Shion and in and out of Timeline Prime for a good six years. But I’ve been here on Mercury for...It’s May, right?”

“Close. Second of June.”

“I’ve been here since your Thanksgiving. So that would mean I’ve been here for about seven months. Six with Osiris and Saint-14.”

“You spent a month by yourself on Mercury?” The Hero questioned. “Aren’t there Vex?”

“Ambrosia and I were just fine!” Keya claimed, shrugging off their worries. “We’re still alive and well, aren’t we?”

“Yea, but it’s still worrying that...” The Hero paused to consider their next words. “Well, you’re not exactly a child. But you’re in a childlike body. You wouldn’t exactly be able to put up a fight against, say, a grown man.”

“You do have a point,” Keya admitted. “But I still made it here okay, so I’m not too worried about what lies ahead.” She gave a smile. “Ambrosia and I have Saint and Osiris to protect us, don’t we?”

“Right...even when you’re done being taught under them?”

Keya suddenly frowned and looked at the ground. “That’s...” She took a moment to say something else. “Let’s change the subject. How’s the monitoring of the incoming meteor?”

The Hero pulled out a datapad. “I’ve been keeping track of it with this pad Carla gave me,” they explained. “It seems that the initial meteor’s started to fragment. It’s become a meteor shower instead of one projectile, at this point.” They looked up. “The core of the meteor, the concentration of the nebula angel energies, are definitely still going to land on Mercury, though.”

“Has the time until impact been narrowed down?” Keya questioned.

The Hero took another glance. “I think it’s expected tonight. So I’ll be heading out in a few minutes to try and intercept it.” They then scratched the back of their neck. “Though with all of these Umbrati all of a sudden, I’m worried that they might have other plans for the meteor.”

“So what should we do?” Keya asked, worry creeping into her tone.

“Do not fear!” A sudden voice chirped up. “The Hero has proven themselves to you, right?”

Keya looked at the game console she was holding, at the face floating against a green background. “Oh, Alter Ego. Yea, they have. But the Umbrati could be preparing something that can totally blow us out of the water!”

“Hold on, who is that?” The Hero pointed at Alter Ego slightly.

“Oh, them? This is Alter Ego! The AI that came with my game console!”

“Hello there!” Alter Ego chirped. “I’m sorry that I didn’t introduce myself to you earlier. I can’t say that I’m a person who immediately warms up to new faces...”

“Alter Ego, huh?” The Hero frowned. “Keya, are you sure this isn’t a Cyber Elf? They really are a bother nowadays, with mass production being exploited by the Umbra Mondo.”

Alter Ego suddenly gasped. “No! The Mother Elf was unlocked?!”

Immediately, the Hero seemed concerned. “How’d you know the Mother Elf was the key to unlocking mass production of Cyber Elves?”

“Hero, it’s okay!” Keya reasoned. “Alter Ego came with my console way before the Cyber Elf manufacturing began, back in February. Cyber Elves only started being made in early May.”

“Yea, I know, but-” The Hero’s eyes suddenly blew up. “No, wait! There still is a Weil sibling unaccounted for!” They suddenly took the game console. “Are you Aki Weil?!”

Saint had finally released Osiris, who was taking a moment to stabilize himself as the Titan rushed over. “What is all the yelling about over here?”

Alter Ego looked suddenly nervous. “You...You know my name?”

“Huh?” Keya frowned. “I thought you were Alter Ego!”

“I’m, uh...I’m afraid that was a lie.” Alter Ego, or Aki, looked saddened. “I’m sorry...I had gotten separated from my brother and trapped in your game console. I was scared, and I was afraid of what would happen if you knew I was Aki Weil. So I just used a fake name, and tried to figure out if you meant well...”

Saint gently took the console. “Alter Ego...Or, Aki. If you had merely spoken to us, we would have taken you back to the City at a moment’s notice.”

Osiris merely shook his head. “Aki had most likely found himself in an unfamiliar and frightening environment. I can understand why he had failed to mention his true identity to us, especially when he was on the run from such a terrifying foe at the time.”

“I’ve been hearing what happened between conversations between you three,” Aki said. “Is it true that...Nagito’s gone?”

Saint paused at that. “Gone? No.” He shook his head. “He can still be saved from the tyrant of a king. But for now, he is...not present. But he is certainly not gone.”

“The Alliance is working hard to save him and your other siblings right now,” the Hero confirmed. “We want all of them to make it out of this okay.”

Aki sniffled a bit. Osiris didn’t know how he did that, due to only being digital with no real corporeal form. “Really?” he asked quietly.

“I don’t see why we would lie about such a thing,” Osiris claimed. “Trust me when I say we want the siblings to be freed from the King of Spades.”

“King of Spades.” Saint huffed. “What a strange name.”

“It’s obviously an alias, but I don’t see what it’s based off of,” Keya stated. “Psychopaths or serial killers tend to either incorporate their names from the general populace nicknaming them as such, such as Jack the Ripper, or base them off of a detail unknown to the public, like the Zodiac. Since the King of Spades has referred to himself as such from day one, it’s clearly the latter.”

“Then does the King of Spades like poker?” Saint joked. “Or is it just a joke from childhood?”

“Since the King of Spades seems to be an AI, I doubt he had a childhood,” Keya snarked.

The Hero hissed a bit. “That’s harsh, Keya.”

Keya seemed unamused. “Hero, he’s killed people. He is officially classified as a terrorist and a public threat. I can make as many jabs at him as I want.”

Osiris shook his head. “Keya, would you mind the Hero taking your game console back to the Alliance temporarily? Just for Aki to safely arrive under their protection.”

“Well, I can’t right now,” the Hero admitted. “The meteor shower’s about to begin. I need to leave right now, now that I think about it.”

Keya looked up at the sky. “The stars are out, so maybe do you think we’ll be able to see-?” she began to ask.

The Hero suddenly pushed her to the right, causing her to teeter forward onto her stomach. Just narrowly, they drew their blade to deflect a glowing sword just about to strike them from behind. With a shove forward, they sent the Umbrati toppling onto their back, then brought down their blade upon them.

As they did so, Osiris looked over his shoulder at the surrounding terrain of the Sundial. “Saint!” he called.

Saint immediately drew his shotgun, though had a small lag in his motions. Stepping back, he stared back at the multiple pairs of eyes from the shadows. He couldn’t even count how many there were, in all directions.

“They’ve wisened up,” Saint commented dryly, raising his gun.

“Can you even fight them all?” Osiris raised his firearm as well, giving a worried glance to the weakened Titan.

“Honestly?” Saint admitted. “Starting to lose confidence in a sure answer.”

Osiris paused for a moment, then raised his gun higher, slowly walking back up the step to the Sundial. “Hero?”

The Hero took Keya’s hand and scooped up Ambrosia. “Already on it. Just tell me when-”

“Now!” Osiris cut him off by opening fire on the Umbrati suddenly lunging forward.

As Saint emptied his clip, the Hero hoisted Keya up into their arm. “Keep holding on tight to Aki! We’re putting distance between them and us!”

Keya immediately began to squirm. “Osiris!” She reached over the Hero’s shoulder. “Saint!”

“You both will be okay, right?” Aki screamed as the Hero pulled forward their raven black wings.

“We will!” Osiris called over his shoulder in response, then slugged an Umbrati across the face with his gun.

“Is that a lie?” Aki pressed on.

“...Yes.” Osiris’s voice dropped in volume, barely being categorized as a yell.

Keya yelled in response and tried to crawl over the Hero to run to the two. Immediately, they took to the sky, still holding on tight to both her and Ambrosia, the game console still in Keya’s palms.

Her scream bounced through the sky and to the ground. Osiris paused for a moment, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. He took a gulping breath and forced it down before reloading his gun and shooting the Umbrati getting the closest to him.


	11. Battle of Mercury: Ending

By now, the fighting has ground to a halt. The Hero looked around the terrain for any sign of Osiris and Saint approaching. But there was no sign of them coming over the hill towards the small encampment they had created to hide Keya.

The worst-case scenario came to mind immediately, and they struggled to push it away. Umbrati were made of pure darkness. Could they disrupt the flow of Light within a Guardian if they tried? Could they have truly killed the two for good?

The thought was forced down with a harsh swallow. The Hero lowered their hand from their face and looked to the side.

Keya was curled up next to the small campfire. She didn’t close her eyes, only absentmindedly stared at the crackling wood. Ambrosia was curled up next to her, but he did not sleep, either. He kept staring at the hill they had come over, the direction the Sundial was in. He was waiting, just like the Hero.

After a few more minutes of stifling silence, the Hero looked over their shoulder at Keya. “Keya?” they slowly began. “I think we need to start moving.”

Keya looked up slightly. “Huh?”

“Osiris and Saint haven’t radioed me anything, and I don’t like how quiet it is.” The Hero looked over. “I should open a portal and get us back to the Alliance safely.”

Keya didn’t seem to react with any new expression. “Osiris told us to pull back to here. He is confident that the threat can be dealt with enough to not leave Mercury. And you need to be here for when the meteor shower arrives. Logically, we should not leave.”

“Yea, yea, I know, I know!” The Hero threw up their hands. “But I just got a really bad feeling. Waiting around will not be worth it if you get hurt, thus failing to do what Osiris asked of me to.”

“And that is?”

“To protect you,” the Hero responded.

“Keya?” The game console in Keya’s lap spoke up. “We really should listen to the Hero. Osiris and Saint-14 have been quiet for too long.” Aki paused, considering how to put it. “They could very well be-”

Keya closed the game console. Aki was cut off immediately, going silent as it powered down.

“Keya!” The Hero hissed. “Don’t do that! Turn it back on!”

“It was running out of battery,” Keya pointed out. “It would have died anyway.”

“Yea, but let Aki speak!” The Hero exclaimed. “That was really rude to do.”

A dash of a white line was sent across the night sky. Keya immediately looked up, ignoring the Hero. They paused, then glanced up as well as the second line shot by, this one larger to the human eye.

“The meteor shower has started.” Keya stood up.

The Hero quickly pulled out their datapad. “Huh. It’s arriving a few hours later than I thought it would-”

As multiple meteor fragments shot by, one plummeted straight to the ground. A loud boom resonated through the sky, and the ground shuddered, throwing Keya off of her feet. Something whizzed straight down from the sky and slammed into the terrain what had to be miles away, but the impact sent out a shockwave of tremors.

The Hero was temporarily stunned, off-put by the magnitude of the tremors. But they succeeded to notice movement to the side. However, they failed to act in time to avoid a gun opening fire upon them, and a bullet finding their way into their side.

They were ambushed. The Hero stumbled back, clutching their torso in pain. Keya launched to her feet, screaming in alarm. Ambrosia made a yowl of anger, launching himself at the closest Umbrati, a poor swordsman. His face was sliced up in seconds, and he screamed as claws implanted themselves in his eyes.

“Keya!” The Hero yelled, pulling out their sword. “Keya, run!”

There was no time to open a portal. The Umbrati swarmed the Hero instantly to make sure this didn’t happen. But it gave Keya an opening. Grabbing the game console, she made a break for it. Ambrosia followed closely behind, launching off a bloodied face to give him an extra boost in speed.

Keya vanished into the surrounding terrain. She may have been wearing clothes that popped out in the dull surroundings, but Mercury's night was dark, and she was small. By some miracle, she managed to elude the Umbrati making up the initial strike against them. She had no idea how she did it, with the way her heart pounded against her chest and her shoes slammed against the ground as she ran for it.

She slid down a rocky slope, and Ambrosia leaped after her. Her foot caught on something, and she tumbled forward into a bush. Her clothes caught on branches and small lashes struck across her cheek. She struggled to pull herself out, being so tangled within the leaves and brambles.

Ambrosia took her shawl with his jaw and pulled. He didn't do much at all. A fresh strip of cloth was torn off, and he fell backward, the fragment in his mouth. He pawed at his face to pull it off of his fangs as Keya pulled one leg out.

It felt like Keya was being choked. Gagging, she looked over her shoulder. Her shawl was half-buried in gnarly branches and reddened leaves. She began to reach to untangle it, but looked up at distant yelling. Footsteps were audible on rocks not too far away.

She paused. It felt like such a big decision, but it really wasn't. It was an incredibly black and white choice of action. And yet, she had to force herself to undo the dove-shaped clasp around her neck.

She left the shawl tangled up, dangling halfway out. She turned and ran once it slid off of her shoulders. Ambrosia, who had gotten out the scrap of fabric, turned and followed, the jade coin beating against his chest as he ran after her.

Keya found it so hard to go forward instead of backward. Forwards was away from all of the friendly faces on Mercury. Forwards was towards the unknown, dangers and traps most likely abound. But she would be a coward to go backward. Saint would be displeased if she was put in danger purely out of fear of fleeing towards something undiscovered to her.

The smell of smoke was becoming more obvious in the air as the vegetation grew thicker. It was impossible to see the streak of white following her through the reed-like grass going up to her waist. Trees hung low overhead, blocking the natural light out from the stars above. She was traveling blindly at this point, unable to see if she was about to ram into a tree at the speed she was going.

Everything was growing quiet. Too quiet for her liking. Keya stopped and looked at the grass around her. There was no movement. There was no sign of the blades being pushed aside by Ambrosia to follow his master.

"Ambrosia?" Keya called. "Where are you?"

No response came. No mewls sent out to reveal Ambrosia's whereabouts echoed back to her. She was completely alone in the void of darkness swathing her, eating at what confidence and bravery she had mustered temporarily.

Keya opened the game console. She tried to turn it on. The screen did not light up in green. The battery truly was dead, rendering her unable to talk to Aki or use its light to guide her.

But she did see a pair of yellow eyes in the reflection from right behind her.

Keya dropped her head to duck. A hand whizzed by, snatching at thin air. She didn't even have the breath to scream. She began running forward, still ducking low to the ground as if seeking protection from the nature around her.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Unfriendly hands scooped her up and lifted her off her feet. "We can't have you running away, chrono angel."

Keya began to kick blindly. "L-Let go of me!" She cried out.

"Aw, you're quite adorable." The Umbrati holding her pet her lightly on the head.

Keya leaned her head up and snagged a finger in her teeth. She snapped down so hard, she tasted blood immediately. The Umbrati yowled and dropped her. The game console fell out of her hand, and she scrambled to her feet, trying to scamper off again.

A great blow came to the side of her head, and she saw stars. She fell to the side, smacking into the ground and choking on dirt. Her ears rang, and she coughed at the metallic taste blooming up in her mouth.

Something was snarled in an unknown language. Umbrin, she reasoned. The native language of the Umbrati. Lifting her head only caused nausea to her, so she kept her head down as she attempted to get up again.

Another Umbrati replied. Judging by their tone, they sounded frightened or scared, a sharp contrast to the other's anger. Their words, whatever they were, were cut off by a sickening slicing sound. They choked, then made a sound a dying animal would make. When Keya looked to the side, she saw an Umbrati body slump to the ground before disintegrating into smoke.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry about that." When Keya looked, the Umbrati who had spoken was holding a knife dripping with some sort of fluid. She didn't need to imagine what it was. "I had given my soldiers strict orders to not bring harm to you. I had to deal with rule-breakers in a logical manner." They whisked the knife away, and they held out a hand. "You can stand, right?"

Keya scrambled backward. "Get away from me!" She wailed.

The Umbrati sighed, adjusting what looked to be glasses. "I suspected as much," he noted to himself. "Visible signs of fear and stress on the person, coupled with any head injury, means dramatic and volatile reactions." He cleared his throat. "Let's start over. I am Abanus, the new head researcher of the Umbra Mondo. And you?"

Keya shrank up against something solid; a tree. There was nowhere to run now. "K...Keya."

"A pleasure to meet you, Keya!" Abanus approached closer, and Keya tried to squirm away. "Oh, don't worry. I won't harm you yet. I wanted a test subject in nominal conditions, after all."

"Please leave me alone," Keya sobbed. "I like it here on Mercury when it's quiet and beautiful!"

"Idyllic wishes are usually never granted," Abanus gently chided. "Such is real life." He pulled out a small case and popped it open to reveal a syringe that he promptly placed in his left hand. "Now stop squirming. If you play along, I'll be able to sedate you, so our times together will be  _ much _ less painless."

Every time Ambrosia sprung out of the grass to see his surroundings, he seemed to be in a new place entirely. The feline's eyes were able to see well enough in the darkness but could not see through the red grass that ascended beyond his height. Keya also did not have the luxury of good vision, regardless of light. They were separated in the first minutes of entering the area.

Ambrosia went back and forth, left and right. He kept meowing, hoping for Keya to call out in response. No such words came.

He began to feel increasingly lonely and worried. His leaps became faster-paced and more frantic. Anything to help him see his owner anywhere.

He was no normal cat. Keya knew of that from day one. When her parents were lost to the darkness so suddenly in a timeline, Ambrosia streaked right out of the portal being sealed right into her arms in the Walkway. They had to die to ensure darkness did not get into the Walkways, but he survived.

He's been there since the beginning. From the loss of her home to being found by Andal Brask on Shion, to ending up here on Mercury. Ambrosia has been there all along, and he has not aged a physical day, much like her as well.

If there was any faithful companion to Keya, it was Ambrosia. And he may not be a normal cat. But he is still  _ her _ cat.

With one last leap, Ambrosia broke out of the vegetation. He tumbled out onto cracked and uprooted rocks. He skidded to a stop, nearly teetering over into a pit that certainly wasn't there before. The heat rising from it said a different story. Ambrosia made another look around to confirm his safety before looking inside.

There was a person. A tiny girl in an oversized, unbuttoned purple raincoat. Her pink hair seemed frizzy, matching her shorts and top. It seemed like she was getting ready for the beach and a blizzard at the same time.

But it was a person. Not an Umbrati. Person could help Ambrosia find Keya. He leaned in closer and began to meow down at her.

Strange that she lied in the center of such a hot pit. It was like she was the 'meteor' the Hero spoke so much of. But that was silly. Meteors were made of rocks, not people.

When Person did not get up, Ambrosia got impatient. With another leap, he began to leap down into the pit. Immediately, he tumbled into the dirt, yowling in alarm.

Person sat up immediately, eyes going wide. Her mouth opened in a smile. "Kitty!" She reached out her hands to catch him, the overcoat sleeves dangling over and hiding her palms and fingers.

Ambrosia latched onto one of the dangling sleeves. He swung a few times as he dug his claws in. Besides a certainly big scare, he was okay.

"Hi, kitty-witty!" Person began incessantly petting him. "How are you?"

Ambrosia batted away the hand. No time for petting. This was an emergency. He meowed this case of urgency to the Person.

"Are you hungry?" The Person laughed. "Yes, me too! I don't know how long I've been flying!"

Ambrosia did not care about flying. This was a serious situation that required immediate addressing. He hissed and batted one hand twice.

"Owie!" The Person began violently shaking Ambrosia. "No! Bad kitty!"

Ambrosia let go and hissed. This Person was no help at all. He had to find Keya on his own. He turned and began to climb up the crater side.

The Person seemed apologetic. "Oh, wait, no!" She scrambled after. "I'm sorry, kitty!" She tried to grab him again.

Ambrosia lost it. He flailed like a fish, hissing and lashing out, claws and all. The Person yanked back her hands, and with one last hiss at the Person, Ambrosia leaped up the crater side, using his claws to climb up.

That just left the Person standing there. She watched as Ambrosia darted long away from her.

Mercury's night was still chilly by the time Saint stirred. He was roused by both an aching, draining feeling in his limbs and Geppetto virtually screaming at him to get up. Confused, Saint lifted his head from where it fell against the ground.

His limbs were bound with what looked like purple cords. They pulsed with darkness and felt bitingly cold wherever they touched. His wrists and ankles beyond were numb to any sort of movement. They were sucking out his Light, subjecting him to a slow and painful death.

Saint reached up to paw at his helmet. After a minute of struggling with his paralyzed fingers, the silver and purple helmet was cast aside, and the Exo underneath gasped for air. He sucked in a breath before immediately biting down on the cords around his wrists.

Pain flared through his jaw, but he willed through. Chewing the best he could, he had to stop after about twenty seconds. His head was pounding now, and he felt ready to go back to sleep. But if he had continued to do so, pushed to the brink of exhaustion and beyond, he could very well die.

Geppetto must have spent so long trying to get him up. How long has it been since he and Osiris were overwhelmed? It felt like that it was forever ago.

Alarm crossed his mind, and he looked around the base of the Sundial, sitting up abruptly. About twenty feet from where he laid was Osiris, his back to him and unmoving. The purple cords wound around his body as well. The Umbrati had left them both to die.

"Osiris!" Saint yelled out. "Osiris, wake up! You have to wake up, Osiris!"

After a moment, Osiris's head slowly lifted. It fell back down a moment later, a weak groan muffled by the cloth still around his mouth. Could he possibly be suffocating with such a helm?

A pair of footsteps ran up. Saint turned, already cocking back his fist. The Umbrati had come back to finish them off. If it was a fight they wanted, it shall be a fight they got.

"Sorry I took so long." The Hero knelt by Saint. "I had to get some specialized weapons to get rid of these."

When they began to reach out a golden dagger, Saint pushed them off. "Osiris is in a worse condition," he declared. "Save him, first!"

The Hero paused for a moment, stunned by the refusal of help. Saint shot them a deadly glare that spurred them into action. Scrambling to their feet, they rushed over to Osiris's side and lifted him gently.

After a moment, they suddenly snapped, "Fuck!"

Saint looked as the Hero pulled off Osiris's helmet, revealing the bloodied and sweating man underneath grimacing in his sleep. He knew it was bad, but he still had to ask. "Is he alright?"

"Saint, he isn't breathing!" The Hero began cutting the cords with the dagger.

Once Osiris's hands were sliced free, the Hero rolled him onto his back. The Warlock was unresponsive, with no sign of his chest rising and falling. There was this relaxed look in his body that struck nothing but horror into Saint.

The Hero checked his pulse. Nothing.

"...Saint?" The Hero slowly began.

Saint was quiet for a moment. Then came a quiet, whimpering "No."

"I think his Light's gone."

The snapping noise sent the hairs on the Hero's back upright. They turned to see the purple cords ripped apart and scattered around Saint. He began to scramble over, shoving aside the Hero and bowing over Osiris as if to shield his body.

"He is not dead!" Saint cried out. "Osiris will never fall so easily to mere ropes of darkness! Right, Osiris?!" He shook Osiris's body. "Tell them that they are wrong! Tell them that you still have your Light!"

"He doesn't." Saint looked up to see Osiris's Ghost, Sagira. She was pulled back as if afraid Saint would lash out at her. "I can't feel him anymore."

"Please." Saint sank his head to Osiris's chest. "Please don't lie to me, Sagira. I don't like Osiris's joking."

The Hero stepped back a bit. Their mind was drawing to a blank. Death in Lore was so vastly different than death within the ring of Guardians. They didn't know if anything could be done to help him.

Then a spark of an idea came. The longer they thought of it, the more it roared up in them. It was a long stretch, but she was the Champion of Light. And besides, she did owe them a favor.

"Saint?" The Hero watched Saint, watching for a response. When they got one, they continued. "I think I know how to save him."

Saint's head snapped up, and the Exo looked at them. "Please," he begged. "I want Osiris to be okay."

"Stay here and watch over him," they responded. "I'll be back with help as soon as possible."

Saint did not respond. He continued to huddle himself over Osiris. The Hero gave a look of empathy beneath their mask. Then, they turned around and gestured their hands to open a portal.

It was an hour until they returned. Saint seemed to not regard the track of time. He continued to sit in the exact same position, holding Osiris's body losing its warmth by the minute. Maybe that's why he was radiating with his own Void Light; to take in what was left of the living, breathing person.

To the new person just arriving with the Hero, it seemed almost pathetic to her. Quickly, she had to remind herself that loss was an emotion she knew all too well. If she can spare such raw emotion to be inflicted upon others, she would take it.

Gently, she laid a hand upon the Exo's shoulders. "Saint-14?" She began. "I am Empress Gravelyn of the Shadowscythe. I can help your friend."

"Not a friend," Saint murmured. "Osiris is not just friend. My firey bird is all I have left of what I truly know. He is my everything."

"I understand." Gravelyn nodded. "I'll be able to restore his Light if you let me."

Saint held Osiris out. Gently, as if he was made of porcelain, and might shatter at any moment. Gravelyn knelt down, slowly taking him into her arms. She didn't want to make any sudden movements that could potentially alarm Saint, in the frazzled state he seemed to be in.

Being the Champion of Light was a fragile subject when it came to the Empress of Evil. When the Hero approached her, asking for her light, she had initially refused. But once the situation was explained, Gravelyn was halfway out of Shadowfall. She would never dare wish the loss of a loved one upon another.

Her wings were summoned forth, casting a sharp glow of white contrast upon her blood-red armor and hair. Her hands pulsed with the power granted by the elements fueling the life of the universe. She was not the Traveler, but she could damn well exceed it.

She felt it question her when she reached out towards it. Inquiries about her began to collect in her mind. She shoved them aside and snagged onto the Traveler's might. She asked them to follow her guide, to bring their light back to one of their stalwart Guardians. They obeyed.

Osiris shuddered under her. He gulped for breath, a new sheet of sweat beginning to collect on his face. Gravelyn released him once he began to push away from her, dazed and confused.

Saint grabbed him immediately and pulled him into a hug. He gave a heavy sob, burying his face into Osiris's shoulder. The Warlock now looked even more baffled but tired at the same time. He barely could lift an arm to shove Saint away, so he sank into the embrace.

"What...?" He croaked.

"Osiris, you left us," Saint sobbed. "You've been dead for an hour."

"...Truly dead?" Osiris looked horrified, seeming to think to himself.

"It was those Umbrati," Saint seethed. "They almost took you from me, solnishko."

"You haven't called me that in years," Osiris murmured, touching the side of Saint's face with a shaky hand.

Saint paused for a moment. "You still look dead," he commented. "Blood and sweat everywhere." He tapped a cheek to emphasize his point.

Osiris lightly pushed his hand away. "I'm...alright. Nothing sleep cannot fix."

"More like a coma," Sagira commented. "And a bath, with some bandages thrown in the mix."

Gravelyn watched Saint slowly help Osiris onto his feet. "Will he be alright?"

"He is alive," Saint replied. "And connected with the Traveler's Light once more. He will recover."

"Good. Then I will be taking my leave." Gravelyn turned to leave, cape swishing slightly as she did so.

The Hero watched her walk past them. "Hey, uh...About joining the Alliance?" They tried.

"Fix your current problems with the Umbra Mondo sieging every one of your outposts and succeeding spectacularly, then we will talk of cooperation."

The Hero watched her vanish into a portal of light, returning to her dark domain. "...Right!" They called after her not waiting for a reply. "We can do that!"

Saint shifted Osiris onto his back, not bothering to pick back up his helmet for now. "Comfy?" He asked. "Breathing well?"

"I feel much better off of my feet," Osiris admitted, draping his arms over Saint's shoulders. "Thank you. Where's Keya?"

The Hero paused. "That's..." They looked around. "The Umbrati attacked and separated us. I thought she would come back here to the Sundial."

"Perhaps she has taken the long way around?" Saint guessed. "How long ago were you separated?"

A white flash suddenly erupted forward from the bushes. Ambrosia, limping on one paw, was streaking towards Saint. Between his jaws was Keya's game console.

As both Saint and Osiris watched, Ambrosia stopped in front of them. He dropped the game console without a care in the world, letting it clatter against the tile surrounding the Sundial. Then, he began to circle Saint's feet, meowing incessantly. He would occasionally stop and attempt to climb up his legs, making direct eye contact with him.

"Ambrosia and Keya would never separate," Osiris murmured.

The Hero picked up the game console. "He's got the console, too," they noted. "But it's out of battery. We can't talk to Aki right now." They then looked around. "The Umbrati have stopped attacking as well. They just...left you guys to die."

"...They got what they came for," Osiris realized. "They came here for Keya."

"...Shit." The Hero slowly lowered the hand holding the console. "I was supposed to protect her. I thought sending her away when they swarmed us would have allowed her to double back to you guys, but...I was wrong."

Saint sighed. "I do not usually speak bleakly. But we were three against a thousand. We would have been overrun, no matter what." He reached out to pat the Hero's shoulder. "We did all we could to protect little bord."

"But what now?" The Hero questioned. "Do we just let them keep her and do...whatever they have planned for her?!"

"No, of course not!" Saint paused, then looked at Osiris half-conscious. "But with Osiris like this, I cannot leave him to pursue her kidnappers. He needs to recover before we can do anything."

"No, you don't need to," Osiris argued. "I will be fine on my own."

"And what if they return to finish the job?" Saint retorted. "Going to the Last City for your recovery is the best option."

"And what of the Sundial? We cannot just leave it here without anyone watching it. Who knows who would use it for malevolent purposes?"

Sagira looked back and forth between Saint and Osiris. "How about we just relax here on Mercury?" She pointed out. "Keya was who they were looking for. It's not like they'll come back to finish a job they clearly didn't care about."

Saint looked unconvinced, continuing to look over Osiris on his back. He was unable to tell what was better, watching over him on Mercury or handing him over to the professional medics at the City.

The Hero gave Saint a light shove to snap him back to reality. "I'll take Aki back to the City," they said. "Then I'll help you guys find Keya in any way that I can."

After a pause, a friendly warmth returned to Saint's voice. "Thank you, Hero. I'll be getting Osiris to bed, then. Sleep will do him well." He began to help Osiris away. "Stay with me, solnishko. Tell me if you feel nauseous or sick in any way. I am here for you."

Sagira hovered after. "Not like he’ll admit that in any normal circumstances."


	12. Battle of Mercury: Another Side

"Alright, then...Plan C is a bust."

"It's not a solidified plan, Theodore," Warlic chided. "It is not Plan C."

"Whatever!" Theodore rocked back and forth in his frustration. "Moving on to Plan D! Anyone wanna throw their hats in the rings?"

"I think I'm starting to get really dizzy," Shiro commented. "I don't believe hanging upside down for this long is good for my health."

"You get used to it," Axl retorted. "Besides, we aren't exactly in the real world." He looked around in the darkness. "Just this sorry excuse of the digital world."

"Yea, but you aren't the one who has a fresh gunshot wound to worry about. I mean, I did get it...I want to say a couple of weeks ago?" Shiro grimaced. "How long has it been?"

Theodore frowned. "Well, when you came in here, you said it was May 21st. That's when Mars fell. We don't exactly have a good frame on what's happened since."

"My logs are telling me it's been more than a week," Axl noted. "If they are to be believed, today is the end of June 8th."

"You could have just told us that this whole time?!" Theodore snapped. "I think I've been losing brain cells trying to figure out how many hours I've been dangling like a pig carcass!"

"You know, that attitude is specifically why I never spoke up," Axl remarked.

"Hey, hey!" Shiro snapped. "We can't find amongst ourselves. We need to work together in this situation and try to find a way out of it before we're turned into one of THEM. That means no senseless bickering!"

"Yes, sir," Axl snarked. "I would salute you in respect, but...well, you know."

"You all are so annoying," Warlic commented.

"Hey, look who's talking normally for once instead of criticizing every word that comes out of our mouths!" Theodore mocked. "How you hanging, Blue Sage?"

"Mage," Warlic corrected. "I am the Blue Mage. You are as thick-skulled as your teacher."

"Oi!" Theodore snapped. "Don't diss Teach like that! Who do you think you are?"

"His friend."

Theodore paused. "Eh?"

Warlic scowled. "Are you daft?" He wondered. "I've been his friend for years. Name his favorite color, food, and scenic location."

Theodore looked nervous. "Um...Gold, beef, and, uh..."

"Silver, because of the paladin armor he wears that reminds him of what he stands for. He likes beef, but he prefers venison for health benefits. He likes to sit on the cliff at the back of Battleon and watch the sunset." Warlic scoffed. "He may be your teacher, but I am his companion."

"Are you saying that I'm not his companion?!"

"Let's put it this way. Would you have ever befriended him if he had not taken you under his wing when you were a kinderguardian?"

Theodore paused. "Wait, th-that's..."

The door into the abyss surrounding them opened, and a cylinder of light flooded in. As all present looked, they immediately could hear struggling and insults being thrown at their captors.

"You guys really suck!" Lance snarled. "I hope you realize fighting somebody as strong as the Alliance is pointless!"

"Lance?" Shiro called out.

Lance looked up. "Shiro?" His face brightened considerably. "Hey, Shiro!" He was picked up and promptly yelped. "Hey! This is so not consensual!"

"Hope you like feeling dizzy constantly," Axl stated. "Because welcome to the club."

Jolyon didn't struggle much as his feet were latched to one of the metal poles adorning the ceiling in horizontal lines. "Glad to be here," he returned. "How are you guys hanging?"

"Hardy har," Theodore snarked.

Warlic looked around. "Where's Lynaria?"

Lance didn't say anything at first. He watched the Elves step out of the room. The door closed behind them, leaving them in darkness and only able to see each other by the luminescent blue ropes restraining them.

When he looked back, the light bounced off of his teeth as he grinned. "She escaped."

"What?" Theodore gasped. "She succeeded? But how? She's just a normal soldier, right?"

"Wrong," Jolyon replied. "Turns out she was a Chaos-afflicted mage."

Warlic grimaced. "I always felt that there was something odd about her," he remarked. "Is she returning to the Alliance or to her master Drakath?"

"She said it was the latter, but I'm pretty sure she'll do the former, too," Lance answered. "Her body is still with the Alliance, and they probably still don't know she's part of Chaos. Once she wakes up, they'll be clamoring to get her to explain what happened."

"So that means we'll be getting rescued soon?" Shiro guessed.

"Well, that doesn't mean we should just sit around and wait for them to rescue us!" Axl exclaimed. "We gotta be proactive, man! What sort of soldiers are we if we just sit around, twiddling our thumbs and waiting for the big strong heroes in the spotlight to come to save us?"

"He's right," Jolyon pointed out. "Lance and I faked a breakout just to get to you guys."

Warlic blinked. "You...bluffed an escape?"

"We're escaping together," Lance clarified. "There's gonna be no man left behind, in this situation! That's why we didn't escape with Lynaria, even when she offered to help us. She was ready to leave you guys, and we were not having that."

Theodore scoffed. "Well, welcome to the team of trying to think up an escape plan while the blood's going to your head, guys. Hope you enjoy your stay because we don't even know the day, much less any routes that can be used for escape."

"Actually, Jolyon and I got to see a good part of the area that's around us when we were being carted in here," Lance admitted.

Warlic immediately tuned in. "Really, now?" He leaned forward a bit, and he swayed slightly.

"Helps when you've got the trained eyes of a sniper," Jolyon commented with a smug air about him. "It seems to be a building complex, with gray hallways. There seems to be a lot of black doors leading to certain areas, but the labels were in a language I couldn't understand."

"What did the words look like?" Warlic asked.

Lance frowned. "Some words had some dots above an 'a', and there was one squiggly letter that looked like a 'd'..."

"They're using German," Warlic realized. "It must be because that Dr. Isaac Weil was German. It would be no wonder that his children, who now lead this digital army, would be fluent in the language."

"Fox also used German a lot in the Otherworlder War, too," Axl pointed out. "My brother was named 'prisoner' in German. It must be a common language within his ranks."

"German isn't one of the Alliance's official languages," Shiro clarified. "The most widely-spoken languages are English, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese, and Eliksni, in that order."

"Then there are not many people who could successfully intercept any messages that could be sent between the armies," Lance realized. "Besides maybe Geffy, as Axl mentioned."

"That may explain why I never saw the Cyber Elves talk," Shiro theorized. "Their base language could have just been switched to German from whatever language they primarily spoke."

"Uuugh!" Axl suddenly flailed around. "This is a cool investigation and all, but I just want to get out! I've been here the longest, and let me tell you, I just want out already! Can we start debating about Plan D yet?!"

Jolyon frowned. "Plan D?"

"Ignore him," Warlic replied. "We barely have enough information for a Plan A. For now, we should continue discussing the matter of Cyber Elves, in case that gets us somewhere. It is the only option we have."

Jolyon seemed to think. "Oh, hey. Before we delve in, can you guys tell me if carrot juice or grape juice is better?"

Lance looked annoyed. "Oh, THIS again?" He cried out.

"Oh, carrot juice. Obviously." Theodore shrugged.

"I don't know," Shiro admitted. "I prefer grape juice over carrot juice. That just sounds gross."

"Sounds?" Theodore exclaimed. "You've never had it! You can't make a proper judgment, then!"

Jolyon looked over his shoulder behind him. "What about you, Axl?"

"Pass," Axl remarked. "I've never had either of them."

"Uncultured and tasteless!" Lance declared.

"Root beer is just fine enough for me!"

"That isn't even a FRUIT DRINK!"

Jolyon looked at Lance and Axl enter a heated debate over the sanctity of root beer before looking at Warlic. "Then you're the tie-breaker!" Jolyon begged. "Please, I need to know this!"

"...I hate both," Warlic revealed. "Amethyst syrup drinks are much better. Such a fruity blend of berries I can get behind." He cracked a small smile.

"...I hate this fucking prison." Jolyon sounded on the verge of tears.


	13. Battle of the Resistance: Beginning

Parisia has discovered a newfound interest in staring at the floor when she walks by Kurami. It seems like a disease for her to look the other woman in the eyes. However, when they would pass by each other, Kurami could always feel a burrowing sensation in her back from a deadly glare. It seems those with poisonous and toxic mindsets could never change, even after more than half a decade of humbling opportunities.

If Parisia wants to scamper back to her little hidey-hole in Shion, Kurami would gladly let her. Over the past year, she's been reaching her limit with her. She's shown a disregard for those that lie beyond her personal goals. She still seems to resent the very existence of the Vasilievs for 'taking her daughter away'. And she had shown little to no remorse in what she had done to Fuyuhiko, abandoning him when he needed the aid of Insurrection's Abyss the most.

That's why Kurami sat on her throne today, watching the door. Redwood and Petra could feel the air change around her that day. In an unspoken agreement, the two evaded her presence whenever possible. However, they also picked back up a few gossips on what was about to make their leader blow her gasket.

As she was summoned, Parisia walked into the throne room. She quickly turned to close the door behind her the moment she noticed Kurami staring right at her. Another tactic to avoid eye contact.

Before she could say anything, Kurami started it all with a short and simple, "Why are you still here?"

Parisia froze, then slowly looked over her shoulder. "I'm sorry?"

Kurami stood up from her throne. "I know you want to ditch us all and go back to your little humble abode in Shion, so why do you still hang around and make all of our lives miserable?"

Parisia gave a short laugh. "Oh, come on, Kurami. It's because I've learned to care for you all."

"Actually?" Kurami stepped down the small flights of stairs that elevated her throne above the rest of the room. "I would have believed that about a year ago. But your validity went downhill the moment you turned out to be the most uncooperative bitch in this entire organization."

“I don’t understand what you’re getting at.” Parisia still gave a serene smile.

Kurami threw her hands in the air. “Just...” she began. “Why? Why did you not tell me about Fuyuhiko? He was our ally, and you made sure that we turned our backs on him.”

“I’ve told you already,” Parisia remarked. “We did not have the militia power required to help him in such a situation.”

“We have the  _ technology _ !” Kurami snapped. “And that is what mattered! The technology! We could have pulled him to safety with a single console, it wouldn’t have cost us a dime!”

“The technology was given to us by an Umbra Mondo loyalist-”

“Seraphina was one of US!” Kurami cut her off. “She fought to dethrone the Shadow King as well! She’s been working with us ever since they captured Keith back in January of last year! She’s risked her life multiple times to give us all she could on how to get that son of a bitch, and you undermined a year’s worth of work with your negligence! I just don’t get...” Kurami took a breath in to try and calm herself. “Why? What was your logic in such a situation?”

Parisia frowned. “If we saved Fuyuhiko, we would have brought the King of Spades to us. I saved Insurrection’s Abyss.”

“Your excuse changes every time.” Seething, Kurami turned away from the angel. “If you were so stalwart that your decision was the right choice, why did you run from me when the Drifter nearly broke down our door to talk to us about our failure to act?”

“He wouldn’t have listened to reason,” Parisia argued. “He’s stubborn in his pride.”

“Stubborn in his PRIDE?” Kurami looked shocked and disgusted at the same time as she whipped back around. “Parisia, you practically killed a child! A child he had been watching over for more than a month! Of course he was pissed or quote-on-quote ‘stubborn’-We failed to protect a kid he entrusted to us!”

“Fuyuhiko was not a child,” Parisia sneered. “He was an AI. A lesser being.”

Kurami slowly lowered the hand that had been massaging her temples. She turned to look at Parisia with what can only be described as a look of barely-contained fury.

“The only lesser being that ever existed in this shithole is you,” Kurami growled. “You’re nothing but a two-faced backstabbing snake that’s only out for herself in this situation. Every word that is exiting your mouth right now only fuels my desire to throw you out of the first window I can find.”

Parisia only frowned. “And I thought we were friends,” she remarked quietly.

Kurami paused, looking at Parisia. “I thought we were, too,” she admitted. “You’ve certainly changed my mind on that.”

Parisia shook her head. “You do not understand what I have sacrificed for this resistance,” she explained. “If it wasn’t for me, you would have never saved the Dreaming City. They didn’t even thank us.”

“They weren’t supposed to!” Kurami snapped. “And we probably wouldn’t even have helped them if it wasn’t for your stupid prophecy about the Sov brother. Honestly, I don’t even know at this point if you were being truthful about it, or if you were just sending me on a wild goose chase!”

“I was,” Parisia clarified. “You could at least trust my word on that.”

Kurami groaned. “The one piece of news that I hate the most, and it’s the most truthful thing you’ve said.” She paused. “If we had just let the Dreaming City suffer, would that have distracted him long enough to change the path he’s going down?”

“If you hated my vision of Uldren, why have you helped him along to his destiny?” Parisia returned.

For a moment, Kurami did not answer. She closed her eyes in consideration, placing her gloved fingers back on her head to massage her forehead. She suddenly looked tired and exhausted, drained from her rant against Parisia.

“Door’s behind you,” Kurami commented. “I want you out of this building by the end of the day.”

Parisia crossed her arms. “I’m not leaving.”

“You haven’t made us suffer enough?” Kurami cracked open an eye.

“You owe me, Kurami.” When she said nothing, Parisia continued. “You dragged me on a fruitless chase for the crown for five years, only for the rug to be pulled out under you by the Shadow Queen. I helped you build this entire resistance from scratch. You wouldn’t have been able to do half the things you’ve done without me. So I will not allow you to throw me away like trash.”

“Hell, I hate that you’re right,” Kurami grumbled. “It’s true that many things wouldn’t have been possible without you. But there are also things that you’ve made impossible to do. You broke the promise exchanged between us and the Drifter about the Weil family. You failed to save Andal from darkness when we had him multiple times.”

“Him repeatedly escaping was not my fault,” Parisia explained.

“Yea, well, after the repeated notions of him forgetting and remeeting you, you just lost your patience and abandoned the cause outright. You’re lucky he didn’t do anything worse under Fox’s command.”

Parisia suddenly laughed. “Like kill some human that you called your kid?”

Kurami slammed into Parisia with renewed fury. The chrono angel was sent launching into the wall behind her. Kurami met her there with surprising speed, grabbing her by the cloak around her. Parisia was pinned against the wall, feet dangling as smoke rose from the ground from where the half-Umbrati usually stood.

“You had no right to bring that up,” Kurami growled.

Parisia smiled, but there was no friendly matter behind it. “Touched a nerve, have I?”

“You’re a manipulative bitch.”

“Ah, ah.” Parisia raised a finger. “Someone manipulative, perhaps. That’s how I’ve always won the battles I’ve fought.”

“You mean escaping karma that’s bound to come to you one day?” Kurami pressed.

“If that’s what you call it, then yes,” Parisia admitted. “You can call it me evading the little divine intervention you wish upon me.”

Kurami groaned. “I hate that you’ve won so many of your ‘fights’ that you consider yourself untouchable.” She dropped Parisia, who landed on her feet. “At least your daughters hate you.”

“Ugh, not you too.”

Kurami paused. “Sorry?”

“Daughter,” Parisia corrected. “I only have one daughter. Why is everyone so insistent that I have two? I have a daughter and a parasite if that’s what you mean.”

Turning around, Kurami began to raise a fist crackling with purple magic. “YOU-”

The doors slammed open, and Kurami paused. The magic died away as both she and Parisia looked over their shoulders. Petra was running in, out of breath as she swung both doors open.

“Kurami!” She gasped out.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Ra-Ra!” Kurami ran over to Petra doubling over and gasping. “Where’s the fire?”

“It’s an emergency,” she suddenly declared. “An entire militia from the direction of Shadow’s Heart is marching here right now. They’ll be here in just a few hours.”

Kurami paused, blinking and slowly removing her hand from Petra’s shoulder. “What?”

“If you don’t believe me, come with me.” Petra took her by the wrist. “You can’t miss them.”

Kurami didn’t resist or pull her arm away. She gave a glance to Parisia standing behind her. However, she quickly assumed the same pace as Petra pulling her out of the throne room. After a bit of hesitation, Parisia followed a distance away.

Day and night never had a say in how the sky looked in the Umbra Mondo. The atmosphere itself was pitch black, with no stars shining down from above. The only light created within the plane of darkness were small balls of violet lights that drifted around like puffs of dandelions on the wind. About four of these traveling lights were congregated at the scout’s camping spot overlooking the western barracks of the main building of Insurrection’s Abyss.

Petra climbed up the ladder easily, skipping over a few rungs. As she grabbed a light out of the sky, Kurami pulled herself up after her. And while Kurami began to lean on the sandbags giving any scouts viable cover, Parisia followed up in the rear.

“Look.” Petra pushed the light forward, and its light intensified for a moment.

As if triggered, all other nearby floating lights gave a quick five-second pulse of a much brighter light. The clusters of magic balls could probably be seen for miles. And as Kurami leaned out further, she could see a good amount of hundreds of traveling lights responding the same, just over the horizon.

“Holy shit,” she muttered.

“There has to be at least a thousand of them,” Petra reported.

“A thousand is an underestimation,” Parisia argued. “This is less of a siege, more of an eradication.”

“How much time do we have?” Kurami didn’t turn to face the other two.

Petra winced. “A few hours, if they continue at this marching pace,” she declared.

Kurami turned back around. “Petra, spread the news. All pacifistic Umbrati clans are to evacuate immediately. The militaristic ones are to take up arms immediately.”

“Yes, Kurami.” Petra bowed before beginning to go back down the ladder.

“Parisia, I need you to radio the Alliance that we’re in...” Kurami paused. “Actually, no. I’ll do it myself. I shouldn’t trust you with anything.”

Parisia frowned. “Just because of me looking out for you, you’ve lost all trust in me built over years?”

“You ‘looking out for me’ nearly had us lose who was probably one of our most useful informats outside of our group,” Kurami growled. “I should have let the Drifter kill you.”

“Kurami-” Parisia seemed to try and clamor to defend herself.

“I’m going to go find Redwood. You follow Petra and help spread the word of the incoming fight.” Kurami shoved past Parisia to go back down the ladder.

Parisia turned to watch Kurami go. She didn’t move for a smile. A placid smile turned into a sneer at Kurami’s back running out of sight.

“Who does that bitch think she is?” Parisia remarked to herself. “Ordering me around as if such a filthy halfbreed of two despicable species could do so?” She huffed before beginning to climb down the ladder herself. “I can’t wait to see this resistance run itself into the ground from such a poor, irresponsible leader.”


	14. Battle of the Resistance: Halfway

Petra stopped herself from coughing when the smoke from the dying Umbrati began to pile up. She pulled back her gun from laying on the sandbags to reload it. Above her, a rebel Umbrati lunged out to charge a loyalist through with their spear.

Parisia laid next to her, calmly inspecting her nails. “How is it?” she asked.

“Hellish.” Petra looked at her. “Are you going to help us out or what?”

Parisia glanced around. “I don’t know. You all seem to be handling the front lines quite well.”

“You don’t need to be a bitch about this, Parisia!”

The chrono angel only smiled. “I thought my help was not required. Kurami doesn’t trust me with the simplest of tasks, after all.”

“Kurami doesn’t trust you with communication,” Petra clarified. “And for good reason, after what happened with the Weil family.”

“Well, wasn’t it your fault?”

Petra was peeking over again, but she ducked back down. “What?”

“You were the one that deleted the email,” Parisia pointed out.

“You ordered me to!” Petra exclaimed.

“But did you have to listen to me?” Parisia questioned. “It doesn’t matter if someone ordered a crime. The person who did the crime is the one with the blood on their hands.”

Petra scowled. “Are you saying you want me to be at fault for what happened to the family?”

“I don’t want you to. It IS your fault.” Parisia sighed. “And I’m the one who has to take the brunt of the blame. You should be thanking me, Venj.”

At that, Petra paused. “Thanking you?” she repeated as if baffled by the words.

A shadow lunged over them both, followed by a yellow light. Both girls looked to see Redwood armed with his double-bladed scythe. Two loyalist Umbrati didn’t raise their weapons in time to defend themselves before he sliced them both in half with the plasma blades.

“Are we having problems?” He called back.

Petra blinked before regaining her composure. “No, sir!”

“Parisia, get your shit together,” Redwood added. “We’re in a warzone, not a gossip center. Start inspecting your weapon, not your nails.”

Parisia dramatically sighed, picking up her axe. “Yes, sir,” she droned.

“Don’t give me that attitude!” Redwood added.

As Parisia leaped out of cover herself, Petra laid covering fire. “How are the other fronts?”

“We’re holding so far, but we’re surrounded!” Redwood spun his scythe in a whirlwind motion, slicing through numerous Umbrati charging at him. “I think they’re planning to starve us out if the initial siege isn’t a success! That being said, I need somebody to go monitor the western front!”

Petra got up. “On it, Redwood!” She called out. “Keep an eye on Parisia for me, will you?”

Parisia scowled. “Hey!”

Redwood smiled in response. “I will, Petra.”

Petra gave Redwood a small smile. However, she quickly broke it off and got up. Bolting across the war grounds, she left Parisia and Redwood to monitor the progress of the sieging Umbrati on their side by themselves.

Upon looking at all of the other fronts, it seemed that they were standing their grounds extremely well. What’s more, the pacifistic Umbrati clans have long since fled, causing no need to double time in protecting any innocent caught in the crossfire. Everyone was eager to fight.

However, this put a new worry in her mind. Perhaps Redwood’s intuition was correct. They could very well not be pushing in, risking losing large amounts of soldiers. Instead, they would be cutting off any chance of supplies being carted into the resistance base, starving out the capable soldiers instead.

Petra turned on her heel, stopping mid-run. She fired three times into the warring crowd. Two loyalists dropped dead, and another flinched back, holding their neck in pain. It took a bit longer for them to die than the others.

When she noticed a red shift in the crowd, she focused on them and used two more shots. Like water, the figure swirled around both bullets. But their attention was grabbed, judging by the way the black-haired figure turned to look at her with cold red eyes.

He was twenty feet away from her. He had no visible gun. She would be able to kill this puppet of the King of Spades, save the Alliance the misery. One less Weil child wouldn’t matter, right?

However, she paused. They wanted to save all of the children. That meant no killing them. Harming was the best thing she could do. So she hesitated to fire her gun a sixth time.

That left him with time to slink up on her. He still wasn’t drawing a weapon, his hands lax by his side. Petra could swear that the closer he got, the more the shine of his eyes returned.

“Petra Venj,” Izuru dully remarked.

Petra stepped back a bit. “Izuru Weil?” she guessed. “I’m not familiar with you or your siblings.”

“You’re correct,” Izuru stated. “I am Izuru.”   
  


“Well, it’s your turn. How do you know my name?”

Izuru smiled a little bit. “Because I was looking for you. I’m quite glad that you came to me.”

“For what?” Petra stepped back. “Are you here to kill me?”

Izuru huffed. “Why would I pick YOU out of the crowd just to kill you?”

“Is that an insult?” Petra challenged.

“No, it’s a compliment.” Izuru turned. “I merely wished to talk to you.”

Petra tilted her head. “Talk?” she repeated, baffled by even the idea of a parlay.

A loyalist Umbrati didn’t seem to get the memo. While Petra had her attention elsewhere, they lunged at her, spear raised above their head. Before Petra even turned to draw her knife and deflect the sudden attack, a gun was in Izuru’s hand. One well-placed shot made their head erupt in gore, then black mist.

As Petra stumbled back, the gun vanished out of sight again. “As I said, I want to talk.”

“You shot one of your own soldiers!” Petra exclaimed, mouth open wide.

“And you’re upset about it?” Confusion crossed Izuru’s face for a moment. “I just saved your life.”

“But I don’t understand why!” Petra admitted. “Why do you want to talk to me so badly that you’re willing to shoot the soldiers on your own side?”

Izuru paused. He blinked once, and Petra audibly gasped. His eyes had changed from blood red to a lighter green in an instant.

“Because I’m not like my other siblings,” he clarified. “Due to my strange data, I have a sort of alternate identity that is untouched by the King of Spades’ data. Therefore, I can be on your side without him suspecting much, though I do have to be careful.”

“Killing one of your soldiers is not exactly ‘careful’,” Petra pointed out.

This alternate identity of Izuru only shrugged. “The King of Spades won’t miss THEM exactly.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. Let’s say you really do have an alternate identity.” Petra fired into the advancing loyalist crowd and saw four fall dead. “For secrecy reasons, what should I call them?”

“Hajime,” he replied. “Hajime Hinata as my full name. It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Venj.”

“Um...Likewise.” Petra shrugged, not knowing what to say. “You wanted to talk to me?”

Hajime seemed to suddenly remember that he was planning to. “Oh, yea. Right. I was planning to talk to you about the plan of attack the Shadow King formulated on sieging Insurrection’s Abyss.”

“Let me guess. He’s working to starve us all instead of throwing all of his troops at us.”

“Exactly,” Hajime agreed. “He understands that he’s fighting you guys in your home territory. But at the same time, I don’t know how long his patience will last. This is a rare case of him regarding the lives of the Umbrati under his command. But if they don’t make this place topple in a few days, he’ll begin sending Cyber Elves.”

Petra hissed in frustration. “And their forces are neverending,” she pointed out. “It’ll be a bloodbath.”

“I suggest that you guys work to break the lines,” Hajime tried. “Maybe you could make an escape route, and flee with as many lives intact as possible.”

“I don’t think that will sit well with Kurami,” Petra admitted. “You’re asking her to abandon the civilization she’s built with her bare hands over the past six or seven years or so.”

“I know,” Hajime admitted. “But the Shadow King truly plans to leave no survivors.”

Petra sighed. “The peaceful and defenseless Umbrati, including Kurami’s daughter, have already long fled Insurrection’s Abyss. What’s left are people who will fight to the death in the name of the queen they wish to put on the throne.”

“And if they don’t leave, it will indeed be their death!” Hajime argued. “It’s best to abandon the base and make a run for it, so the queen they wish to ascend will live to do so.”

Petra sighed. “You have a point, but...” She trailed off, not actually answering the question.

“But what?” Hajime questioned.

“How can I take your word for it?” Petra asked. “There is no evidence that I can trust you.”

Hajime sighed. “You don’t need to trust me,” he pointed out. “But I just wanted to warn you before you sacrifice lives, throwing people at a problem until you yourselves crash and burn without the supports to keep you up.”

Petra looked away. “You don’t know what we are capable of.”

“No. But I know what the Shadow King is, and I know for a fact you all are overestimating yourselves.” Hajime turned away. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Just like that, he blended back into the crowd, Petra blinked once, and he was gone. Even when the sieging was dying down in strength, he had vanished completely out of sight.

She suddenly relaxed, realizing how tense she had become during the discussion. “A rather oddball person,” she remarked.


	15. Battle of the Resistance: Ending

Kurami had been under the impression that Parisia was rotten to the core, after their recent interactions. But it seemed she still had a few shreds of decency. She could just leave Kurami to bleed out from a wound in her shoulder that threatened to tear off her entire right arm. Instead, both of her hands were pressed down upon it, calling upon time to rewind the injury.

Kurami laid her head back on the ground. “Huh,” she remarked. “Guess you do care after all.”

“Stop moving,” Parisia curtly replied. “You’re making this harder than it already is.”

"You got it." Kurami settled back with a smile.

The door to the throne room was slammed open. About three or four shots were fired, with Petra yelling something. The door was swiftly closed again, and when Kurami lifted her head to look, Petra was stumbling in, Redwood with both of his hands on the doors.

Kurami could see the amount of red on Petra's side. "Parisia, stop healing me, focus on Petra."

Parisia looked over at Petra. "What-Oh, by the ancient ancestries!" She gasped, putting a hand over her mouth.

Once the door was securely closed, Redwood rushed to Petra's side. "What happened?" He asked her.

"The western front's been overrun," Petra grunted as two Umbrati helped her sit against the wall. “How’s your side of this shit going?”

“Kurami almost lost her arm,” Redwood replied. “Parisia’s healing her the best she can.”

Speaking of, Parisia knelt by Petra’s side. “Show me your side.”

Petra gave a slight grumble. However, she revealed the gory mess of her torso, pulling away her bloodied hand. Parisia almost gagged, visibly seeing bone and torn sinews.

“What happened?” She questioned, placing her hands lightly on the wound.

“I told you,” Petra responded. “They conquered the western front. I think the Shadow King got tired of waiting for a structural collapse, so I think he’s decided to just throw strength at the problem.”

Redwood winced. “I can still hear fighting,” he noted. “Our soldiers wish to give up their lives.”

“Determination for a better future can do that to a mortal life,” Parisia commented as Petra’s torso wound began to vanish in time. “The strive to carve out a better future instead of one under a tyrannical king tends to override common sense and the preservation of life. Anything to ensure the younger generation will grow up happy.”

Kurami was still lying on the ground. She was staring up at the ceiling, white hair spread out behind her head. “It’s my fault they’re like this.”

Parisia nodded. “They want you on the throne.”

“Be honest,” Kurami questioned. “Do you think I would have lasted long as queen?”

“Actually?” Parisia paused. “I think you would have stuck in there for longer than usual.” Kurami glanced over at her. “You are speaking the thoughts of a majority of the pure-blood Umbrati population. As being against a rule such as this, you are seen as a better alternative. The only drawback of you is being a bastard child.”

“Parisia!” Redwood snapped.

Kurami suddenly laughed. “No, she’s right, Redwood. My creation was not a pleasant one. My father was a breeding slave, and my life was planned to be one of those snarling half-blood beasts pounding on our walls right now.” She sat up a bit. “Except I showed much more promise than all the other offspring did.”

Petra looked over. “How’d you do that?”

“Well...For one, I was smart. Sneaky. Got into places where I wasn’t allowed to be multiple times. In the end, they were less angry and more impressed at my ingenuity. So I got taken away, put with some Umbrati adoptive parents.” Kurami smiled. “My Ma and Pa.”

“Where are they?” Parisia asked.

“Hopefully far away from here,” Kurami answered. “They’ve got their granddaughter Donella with them, evacuating with the other Umbrati.” Her smile grew more bitter. “Should’ve seen them off myself. Then I could’ve said goodbye for good.”

Petra slowly staggered up, the blood on her body no longer leaking out of a wound. “None of us are dying here, Kurami.”

“Oh yeah?” Kurami questioned. “How will we not? We’re surrounded, our defenses are dying en masse. We’ve got nowhere left to run.”

Petra began to say something. She then stopped and looked at the entrance door sealed shut, with multiple Umbrati pointing their weapons at it. The loyalists will be here any second.

“Good point.” Petra sighed.

The walls shook with a cacophony of an explosion. Everyone standing teetered back, stumbling while pulling out their weapons. Smoke rose from a hole freshly made in one of the walls leading into the throne room. However, only one person stepped over the created rubble.

None of them recognized the teenager with the green tie at first. Then, Kurami slowly tilted her head as he walked in. “Hajime?”

“I tried to warn you guys,” he remarked, pocketing some sort of electronic. “You’re lucky that I had some conscience on leaving you to die.”

“Whoa, what?” Petra remarked. “YOU’RE Hajime?”

“I can shift forms,” Hajime answered. “It would have been too obvious if I had suddenly done so during a fight. Staying as Izuru while talking to you was the best option.”

“I...thought you died,” Kurami admitted. “You’re still kicking?”

“I’ll explain later,” Hajime stated. “But my absence will only be unnoticed for so long.” He gestured behind him. “I mapped out a route for escape for you guys. Since the forces are focusing on sieging the main entrance, for now, a man-made back entrance is completely unknown to them.”

Kurami groaned. “How many walls did you blow up, man? I spent so long building this place.”

“It’s coming down anyway!” Parisia argued. “Don’t bitch and moan about somebody saving us.”

“Fuck you too, Pari girl.” Kurami gave a wry grin.

Hajime seemed less than amused. “Well?” He pointed at the hole in the wall a second time. “Are we going or not?”

Redwood helped up Kurami the rest of the way. “Right. We are.” He looked at the remaining forces. “We’re getting out of here, men! We’ll be following after the civilians who have already evacuated! Release the door on my order!"

One of the Umbrati soldiers holding it closed braced another pounding on it. "Yes, sir!"

Kurami was pulled up by Petra. As if she was her personal bodyguard, Petra kept herself between Kurami and the throne room door. Pistol out, she kept her sight on it until Kurami and Parisia were safely following Hajime out, as to which she lowered her gun and followed suit.

Redwood kept his hand raised. "Wait until your leader is at a safe distance!"

After a few more tense moments, the door began to splinter and crack. The soldiers holding it closed skidded along the ground slightly, though tried to regain their footing the best they could. The door was still holding, but it would topple at any second.

There was no more of a point. Redwood made a sweeping gesture. "Now!" He yelled before turning and sprinting after the others.

The soldiers lept back from the door and ran for it. Most slipped through the hole in the wall, streaming out right after Redwood. A few in the back stumbled from the doors being blasted open by sudden force and were gunned down as a result. The rest slipped out of sight past the collapsing structures and towards a risky chance at escape.

Multiple soldiers crowded into the throne room. Sweeping with their guns, they scanned over every corner and hiding space. Immediately, some of them broke off to begin giving chase to the fleeing rebels.

Sonia walked in, a dainty air about her. Her serene smile punctuated the air full of bloodshed and war. Behind her, the halls to the throne room looked as if they were torn up by beasts, broken weapons and armor pieces strewn about.

As she looked around, a soldier slinked up to her. "Milady," he hissed. "What now?"

She tilted her head as if considering it. "Find any records containing our two subjects of interest, Seraphina and Wu Ming," she ordered. "They both were in collaboration with Insurrection's Abyss, so something must be found. Anything else, you will destroy; no exceptions."

"Yes, milady." The soldier bowed before slinking off to carry out her orders.

"S...Sonia!"

Sonia suddenly looked. "Hm?"

Izuru was limping up from the collapsed wall, a hand on his side. When he was within a few feet of her, he began to fall forward. However, Sonia was quick to catch him and lay him tenderly on the ground.

"Izuru," she greeted. "What happened?"

"I tried to stop the rebels," he explained. "But it was me against too many. I was clipped, but since they were in a hurry, they did not make sure that I was dead."

"Did you see where they were heading?" Sonia questioned.

Izuru nodded. "To the north," he answered. "Where some loyalist mercantile factions are. Perhaps to sway them to their side."

Sonia looked at another soldier patrolling the conquered building. "You." He paused and looked over. "Tell the king to send convoys out to survey the mercantile villages towards the north of this location. That is where our troops have spotted the rebels and the half-blood they wish to coronate fleeing to." He nodded without a word and walked off, leaving her sitting there with her brother.

Izuru wondered if she knew he was lying. It would be foolish to go to loyalist territory. So the rebels decided to go somewhere even riskier, the pits in the southwestern area. Nobody would be dumb enough to go there; a perfect place to hide, perhaps?

He did have to hand it to the Awoken lady. She did know how to shoot somebody without putting their life at serious risk.


	16. Battle of the Resistance: Another Side

"Hey, what the hell! Let go of me!"

"What's going on here?! Answer me!"

Warlic blinked out of his sleepy stupor. He hadn't even noticed that he fell asleep. Stirred by the commotion, he glanced over to his side at what was happening.

He immediately noticed the small group holding the bound Shiro and Axl. Fear struck his heart, and he glanced over to see Theodore stirring as well. Good. He was being left alone...for now.

Lance grunted, lifting his head. “Eh?” He blinked, then snapped to attention faster than Warlic had. “Whoa, whoa whoa! Hey, what are you doing with them?!”

None of their captors responded. And it wasn't like the rest of them could do anything. While most of them began to kick and struggle, Warlic seemed to find it useless to thrash around and waste what energy he had. He merely turned his head away from the sight.

"Let them go!" Jolyon cried out, leaning forward slightly.

Still, nothing could be done. As Shiro and Axl were pulled out of the dark chamber, kicking and yelling, the other four were still left to dangle where they were.

As the door closed, Lance began to flail about. "Come back with our friends!" He yelled.

"There's really no point." Warlic looked towards where the door was. "They don't listen to us, anyways."

"What are they doing with them?" Theodore looked worried. "Where else are they being taken besides here?"

"Maybe back to the happier-looking prison?" Lance guessed. "It's Alliance-exclusive, after all!"

"Doubt that," Jolyon admitted. "I feel like coming here from there was a one-way trip."

Warlic sighed. "The only other option is conversion," he said. "The same fate all of us are restricted to unless we don't get out."

Lance looked at the door. "Then does that mean...No. Not Shiro!"

"We can't do anything about it," Warlic remarked. "We currently do not have the power necessary to stop them."

"Seriously?!" Theodore exclaimed. "I thought you were cool!"

Warlic glanced over. "Excuse me?"

"You're just giving up and accepting this as if nothing can be done to stop this! What kind of hero does that?!”

“The opportunity for escape hasn’t presented itself to us,” Warlic pointed out.

“And it won’t unless you make it happen!” Theodore snarled. “You’re the strongest out of all of us here, Blue Sage! If something can be done, only you can do it!”

Warlic only looked away. “Then nothing can be done, as I see no way out of this.”

“Then look HARDER!” Theodore snapped, and Warlic looked back at him.

“You don’t know anything,” Warlic declared. “You think you can just brute-force your way out of an impossible situation without any sort of plan, don’t you?” He huffed. “That’s a given, seeing who was your teacher.”

“Speaking of, what would he say if he saw you giving up like this?!” Theodore pressed. “He probably wouldn’t even consider you a friend, seeing how much of a coward, you are!”

“Theodore, that’s enough,” Jolyon said. “If Warlic doesn’t know what to do, it’s not because he’s being stupid.”

“Oh, yes it is! Shut up, Jolyon!”

“Theodore!” Warlic suddenly snapped, tone cold as ice. Theodore went immediately quiet. “What would Artix think if he saw YOU, perhaps?! Lashing out at who you're supposed to work with in a situation like this! Artix has been imprisoned before, with many powerful heroes. Including me! He would perfectly understand that I am as helpless as all of you in an environment like this, all-powerful mage or not! He would be much more disappointed in YOU, as you are being too hot-blooded to realize this!"

"I-" Theodore clamored to defend himself.

"If I had a way to break us all free, I would!" Warlic continued. "I would perform such a feat in a heartbeat! Especially for you!"

This made Theodore go stiff. "...Huh?"

Warlic paused before continuing. "As I have said before, Artix is an amazing friend of mine. I know how he's been hurt by losing Jadir. And now you're here, another one of his students in a peril he cannot follow them into." Warlic looked around. "I'm sorry Lance, Jolyon. But if I could only save one person here, it would be Theodore, because I can't bear the idea of Artix suffering through the heartbreak of losing another one of his students."

Lance didn't seem upset. "Honestly, I can't be mad at that reasoning," he admitted. "You're obviously close with Artix."

"I am," Warlic softly admitted, his rage dissipating. "He and I have been friends for a very long time. And when Jadir died, I had never seen such sorrow from him until then. I never want that to happen to him again."

Theodore slowly sagged in his restraints. "Sorry," he murmured.

"Believe me, Theodore. I would have gotten us out of here if I had the ability to. But the King of Spades seems to have the ability to put some sort of dampening on my magical abilities in this digital world." Warlic flexed his hands. "I can feel my mana pool, but I just can't reach out to it."

"Soooo..." Jolyon furrowed his brow. "Let's say that we remove this dampening. What would happen?"

"I would say that we'll be back to the Alliance by..." Warlic paused. "It is June, correct? I would say back by Father's Day."

"Oh, man!" Lance groaned. "They took our calender!"

"Right. Axl." Theodore sighed. "So who wants to take bets on how fast we're going to lose our grip on the passage of time, huh?"


	17. Battle of Nohr: Beginning

The only lights within the room otherwise shrouded by darkness were the moonlight filtering in through the window and the half-melted candle flickering in its resting spot. The smell of cedarwood filtered throughout the bedroom from an incense stick lying in its holder. Instead of lying snugly within a bookshelf, a few textbooks were lying open on a bed only partially made. The lone occupant of the room was fast asleep at the desk as the thin line of smoke from the incense curled over and above him.

There was a line of three knocks at his door, and Leo startled up. He pushed himself up in his chair, only half-awake at the moment. He stood up, quickly righting the lavender headband in his hair and smoothing down his casual robe.

"Come in," he called.

The door creaked open, and a slender figure strode in. "Milord," a voice purred. "If we were not smarter, everyone would assume you have been kidnapped, from how little we've seen you the past few days."

"Niles," Leo grumbled. "I was absent for months on end at one point. What makes it different now?"

"Ah, but that time, you were on official business in the Dreaming City with your Blade of Marmora fellows," his retainer pointed out. "This just has no explanation, now, does it?"

Leo huffed. "I suppose you are correct," he admitted. "Did you enter to make sure I was alive?"

"Very much so." Niles sniffed the air for a moment. "Mm, smells wonderful in here. What scent would that be?"

Leo hesitated, as if embarrassed. "Cedarwood," he admitted.

Niles suddenly lost his smile. "Ah. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"No, not at all," Leo answered. "Though I appreciate your concern. Yes, I did find myself reminiscing. It's been more than a year now, yet..."

"It feels like only yesterday," Niles finished. "Your heart still yonders for him, even though he is too far out of reach for anybody."

"It's not fair," Leo suddenly said. "We've done everything right. We've given him a fair send-off. We brought his killer to justice. Then why does it still feel hollow, as if nothing truly helped?"

"Why, it's because he took your affection with him to his grave," Niles answered. "Everyone knows that despite your strange love life, Takumi Himura became very quickly your everything. And we all know that this 'five-year pause' had some delectable breaks in between, hm?"

A scarlet crossed Leo's face. "Gods, that is...Ahem. That is a bold accusation you make, Niles."

"Oh, please. I have seen when those two mercenaries flanking the prince are by their lonesome in Windmire for days on end. Makes you wonder where the third party member flits to, hmm?" Niles licked his lips.

"Ah, it's...true that he had visited me a few times," Leo slowly admitted. "But let me tell you, only words were exchanged!"

"Ah! A passionate back and forth tango of lover's spat, then? I must say, I do find doubt that the battle of tongues was purely verbal, milord."

"Niles, please!" Leo stammered, flushing up. "Enough with this! You are only bringing memories that are nothing but sour now!"

Niles frowned. "Why? I would find one would treasure such fond memories."

"Yes, but...It just reminds me that I will never find one like him," Leo replied. "One that enticed and repulsed me at the same time, bordering on a dangerous catch..."

"Such a spicy description!" Niles proclaimed, sitting himself down on the bed. "I see your plight, milord. I doubt any future romance could come close to such fervor."

Leo cleared his throat. "So, yes," he finished. "I was thinking about Takumi again. Does that satisfy your curiosity?"

“Very much so,” Niles admitted.

“Now, was there anything else you came here to tell me about?”

“Not much,” Niles answered. “Windmire is quiet tonight. Almost as if the city itself holds a moment of silence for those lost in the Alliance-Umbra War.”

Leo turned away from Niles. “How...” He cleared his throat. “How has June been serving us?”

“It is too early to say, milord,” Niles replied. “The eleventh day of June has only just started. But if you wish to know recent events, it seems that Champion Drakath has withdrawn from joining the Alliance.” After a moment, he smiled. “At least, that’s what they’re publicly saying.”

Leo glanced over at Niles. “Really now?” he questioned.

“Oh, yes. He’s publicly announced that he will have nothing to do with the Alliance. But us Nohrians are particularly good at catching deceit. I believe that the Alliance is planning to keep a good leash on their new toy~”

“So Drakath has joined forces with us?” Leo asked. “Answer me plainly.”

“Indeed,” Niles answered. “In other news, his heir has woken up from her coma. That marks her as the first of the five who’s done so.”

“Speaking of recoveries, has Kogane left the medical bay?”

Niles smiled. “Oh, watching over them, are we? Love is such a complicated web of red strings.”

Leo growled, a new dash of red blooming across his nose. “Just answer me, damn you.”

“No, not yet.” Niles frowned for a moment. “I believe he is still being treated for his wounds. The official classification says that the assault on his life broke his arm and nose, along with damage done to his respiratory system, specifically his lungs. With no clerics from any of the kingdoms readily available at the Tower in this crisis, he’s had to heal at a normal human rate.”

“Can we not send one over?” Leo questioned.

All of a sudden, the doors swung open. Niles lunged back, reaching for his bow, while Leo scrambled for the closest tome to him. Both were tensed up as the door slammed into the wall, pushed open by a powerful and careless spirit.

“ALAS, my liege!” Odin Dark stood there with his hands still extended from forcing the doors open. “I come bringing-” He noticed Niles beside Leo. “Hm? What’s this? Are secrets being uttered in the night? Do they involve MOI, the fabulous Odin Dark?”

Leo slowly lowered his tome. “...Odin,” he slowly said. “This is a private conversation between me and Niles. Of course we are uttering secrets.”

“But why not share them with me?” Odin looked depressed. “Am I not worthy of being your second warden, miloooord?”

“What-” Leo sputtered. “That’s not-” He gestured to Niles. “Niles came to me to speak! Whine to him about your preferences!”

Niles did not look happy. “Thank you for pinning all the blame on me, milord,” he said.

Odin was still pouting. “But-”

Leo cut him off with a swiping gesture. “Now, tell me what’s possessed you to almost break my door down, and maybe I will not incinerate you.”

“Sorry, milord!” Odin quickly winced. “I just came to inform you that Princess Elise is not within the palace.”

Leo paused for a moment. “...What?”

"The guards have probed every hall, every room, and our princess is nowhere to be seen! So I came here to tell you the news."

Leo stuttered for a moment. “E...Excuse me?!” He exclaimed. “Odin, how long ago was this?”

“A few hours ago!” Odin declared. “Fret not! We will not allow harm to come to our twin-tailed princess!”

Niles seemed unamused. “You’re an idiot,” he remarked.

Leo pinched the bridge of his nose. “She hasn’t been seen in the castle for a few hours,” he muttered to himself. “What of the capital?” He looked back up at Odin. “Have we sent out guards to search Windmire?”

Odin didn’t exactly correctly answer that question. “We WILL find her, milord!” He declared suddenly. “And we WILL free her from the enemy! I will not disappoint, my liege!” He suddenly ran back through the opened door without saying anything else.

Leo leaned out into the hallway to watch him go. “Wait, Odin, do we even know-?!” When he saw that the dark mage was nowhere in sight, he sighed. “Perfect.”

Niles quirked an eyebrow. “You seem unfazed about the princess’s sudden disappearance, milord.”

“Of course I am,” Leo replied. “Elise probably went off to go pick some flowers in Windmire. We’ll most likely find her in the capital after a few more hours, or she’ll return on her own. She’ll be chided by Camilla, though not harshly, and things will be back to normal immediately afterward. There is no reason to worry, now, is there?”

Niles sighed. “I guess you have a point, milord,” he admitted. “But now, after what Odin just said, I have a rather bad feeling.”

At that, Leo scowled. “What do you mean?”

“Well, with these sudden violent attacks, on Mars, Mount Doomskull, so on and so forth, it’s not right for Elise to suddenly exit the sanction that is Castle Krakenburg, correct?”

Leo took a moment before responding. “The violence is far beyond any of our kingdoms. Hoshido, Nohr, and Valla are unaffected by them.”

“They’re attacking the Alliance,” Niles responded. “They could potentially come for us.”

Leo turned around again. “Niles, please do not-”

The door swung open again. Leo flinched, but he didn’t move in posture. Niles calmly turned to see Odin back in the doorway.

“I bring news even worse than the last!” Odin seemed stressed out about something.

Leo seemed annoyed. “Odin, it’s been a minute,” he replied. “What could you have possibly found out in a minute?”

“Well, to start, not only is our glorious Princess Elise missing! ...So is the infant Siegbert.”

Leo paused for a moment. Xander’s only been able to have one son, the two-year-old Siegbert. The poor thing would be killed the moment he slipped out of the relative safety of the castle. And his disappearance could not be explained away by saying that he’s out to pick flowers in the nearby meadows.

“Siegbert’s missing, as well?” Leo questioned.

“And King Xander is acting highly suspicious!” Odin declared. “He’s distracting himself with the approaching enemy forces instead of uttering a single word about his darling heir and son-”

“Stop,” Niles suddenly snapped. “What did you say?”

Odin frowned for a moment, looking puzzled. “...distracting himself with the approaching...ah, yes! The second bit of new news!”

“There’s what?!” Leo exclaimed. “Enemy forces?!”

“Indeed! Two massive armies have been seen by our eagle-eyed spies! One is taking the path to Hoshido towards the city holding the grand Castle Shirasagi, where our darling Queen Hinoka is. The other is hurtling at threatening speeds towards us.”

Leo pushed past Odin out of his room. “Gods, and we’re only learning about this now?!”

“With a full-fledged attack, I’m afraid searching for Elise and Siegbert may be impossible,” Niles noted with a wince. “And I don’t believe their disappearances are unrelated to this siege.”

“That’s what I’m worried about, too,” Leo agreed. “Niles, gather what news you can from Camilla. Odin, come with me. I need to go talk to Xander.”

Odin saluted as Niles darted off on his command. “Yes, Lord Leo! I shall do your bidding at once!” He noticed Leo was still walking away and scrambled to catch up to him. “Ah, wait for your loyal retainer to follow you closely!”

Windmire was a well-defended town. The walls around it stood high, tested by time but still unyielding. Sitting upon a motorbike overlooking the grand, dark city, Fuyuhiko planned for that to change in the next few days.

Sieging Nohr would be considerably harder than Hoshido. The kingdom of darkness has yet to modernize, adapting technology into its standard. Hoshido, on the other hand, was rich with the digital environment, a risky choice made by Queen Hinoka. It would be easy pickings for the second army most likely knocking on their gates now. That just left them to conquer Windmire, and topple the kingdom.

“Master, this is Fuyuhiko,” Fuyuhiko called. “We’re about to siege Windmire.”

_ “Good,”  _ he replied.  _ “The Black Rose and her forces have already entered the capital of Hoshido. You do the same.” _

“Yes. Of course, Master.”

Fuyuhiko threw one leg back over the motorbike. Gripping the handlebars, he revved up twice. A signal to the army around him. A ripple ensued, with Umbrati and Cyber Elves alike getting on their transportation methods.

Before he placed his foot on the pedal, he froze. A sudden shudder overcame him, and he grabbed his head. A splitting headache ran through his brain for a few seconds. He could swear he heard a voice that wasn’t his own yell his name. But after a moment, it passed, with the event completely vanishing from his memory.

His form fizzed, and something in him glitched for a moment. Old coding, trying to resurface. To break past the veil his master the King of Spades had cast over him. But now, it has become much easier to ignore.

“Master, my old coding seems to be adapting to yours,” Fuyuhiko announced.

There was a pause, before a chuckle.  _ “I’ll deal with it after your success. You WILL succeed, right?” _

“...Of course, Master.” Fuyuhiko touched his cheek before revving up the bike and rocketing down the hill to lead the charge.

The red spikes of infection on his arm were spreading up to his face and across his chest now.


	18. Battle of Nohr: Halfway

The night was cold and unforgiving, despite being summer. Windmire’s inhabitants, standing strong against the siege, had warm houses to keep them snug. Meanwhile, the Umbrati with little to no shelter from the environment were forced to freeze outside of the walls, and have been doing so for three unsuccessful days, now. To say they were upset and unhappy was an understatement.

Fuyuhiko sat on a tree stump, leaning back ever so slightly. He did not require sleep, much like the other Cyber Elves. Instead, a red screen was displayed before him, with him typing on it with one hand.

“July...no, June 14th,” he murmured. “621, 11:04 PM. We have lost about 24% of the army we started with. Windmire can be called a fortress for how well it defends itself. Food rations are low, causing desperation within the Umbrati soldiers. The precaution for making the army majority Cyber Elves held true.”

With a swipe, Fuyuhiko dismissed the brand new log. Behind him, a cricket chirped, and a sleeping soldier grunted. Ignoring them both, he looked ahead at nothing in particular.

The moment he heard static, he leaped to his feet. The fuzz in his brain grew loud, making it hard to think, but at the same time rendering his mind so clearly. One hand gripped his noggin seething up in pain. The other held his gun, which he summoned to his hand and pointed around.

There. A flickering green mirage, standing next to a tree while hovering a few feet away. Fuyuhiko knew he wasn’t really there in Nohr. Knowing him, he’s screwed off to some distant corner of the galaxy.

“Kid.” The voice was so  _ clear _ , though. Drenched with concern and filled with the desire to comfort.

Fuyuhiko turned away. “Leave my mind,” he growled. “You have no power over me.”

The Drifter stepped forward, the form flickering with every movement. “Stop ignorin’ me,” he returned. “I know yer still in there, Fuyu.”

Fuyuhiko laughed. “I know, too. But you think he hasn’t tried to get out? Master’s stopped him every time. And he will get you away from me again.”

The Drifter spread his arms as if inviting the King of Spades to stop him. “I’m here right now,” he pointed out.

After a sigh, Fuyuhiko questioned, “What do you want?” He glanced over his shoulder at him, the glitching patch over his right eye obscuring half his vision. “Why do you keep chasing after me? It’s over. Your precious little ‘kid’ has been lost to history.”

“I know he ain’t!” The Drifter snapped. “And I know it’s my fault he’s in this position. So I have ta be the one to get him outta it.”

“You’re too late for that. Just leave me be, and perhaps the King will show you mercy.” Fuyuhiko began to walk away from the glitching hallucination.

Fuyuhiko froze when he heard a sigh. “Fine. The hard way it is.” When he turned around, the Drifter was charging at him with a sudden speed that made him lock up.

The droning in his head became louder with the approach. Then, Fuyuhiko realized what could potentially happen when he was grabbed.

He wanted to dodge, get away from whatever was about to happen. But he’s lost all feeling in his legs. And a part of him, growing louder by the second, was screaming at him, begging for the pain to stop, for the Drifter to save him, that he just wanted to go home-

A shadow leaped from the forest and shot forward. They reached Fuyuhiko first, slamming into his side and sending them tumbling. Unable to see the hallucination only Fuyuhiko could perceive, they drew a glowing purple knife and attempted to stab down. Their mask was hiding what they were feeling at that moment.

To Fuyuhiko, it was a miracle. To the Drifter, it was a horrific turn that once again ripped an innocent kid from what could have been safety. Before Fuyuhiko could get up again, the Drifter regained his thought process and ran at the Cyber Elf being pinned down by the masked Blade.

Fuyuhiko recovered from the droning, as well. The King of Spades was yelling in his ear, telling him to pick up his gun, and he did, aim, and he did, fire, and he-

The bullet passed through the hallucination. Like glass, it shattered, disappearing into nothingness. In Fuyuhiko’s mind, it was like a cord had snapped, and he went slack instantly against the ground at the disconnection.

The Blade paused at the lack of movement. They got up slowly, observing Fuyuhiko. When he didn’t move, they sheathed their Blade and lifted their mask to get a blast of relieving cold air against their sweaty face.

Having been silently stabbing any hostile that came close to nearly finding Leo, he was on a mission from the beginning. Sneaking out past his worried retainers, he found himself having to search harder than expected to find Fuyuhiko. Leo had been crawling through the forest for two hours to find him.

After a moment of standing, Leo knelt next to Fuyuhiko again. He wasn’t sure if he was dead or not. His body wasn’t dissolving like most Cyber Elves. He raised the knife still clutched in his clammy hand, then brought it down to make sure.

As if on instinct, Fuyuhiko’s hand shot up to grab Leo’s wrist. The knife hovered just millimeters from his chest. Leo’s heart skipped a bit when he saw Fuyuhiko’s visible eye open.

“Hello,” Fuyuhiko commented with a smile.

Leo twisted Fuyuhiko’s arm to try and loosen his grip. Instead of letting go, Fuyuhiko raised his gun and pointed it right at Leo’s head, hovering inches away from his forehead. This made the Nohrian prince freeze in his tracks.

“Kindly drop the knife?” Fuyuhiko’s faux smile looked way too eerie for anything humanlike to replicate.

“What are you?” Leo meant it as rhetorical. He didn’t want to know the answer to that question.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Releasing Leo’s wrist, Fuyuhiko calmly slid the knife out of his hand. “I’m a weapon. A tool for despair to be spread amongst the living, both organic and robotic.” Fuyuhiko gently nudged the stunned Leo back, sitting up while flipping the knife. “You can say I’m...almost a remnant of much more glorious times.” He held back out the knife, directing the pommel towards Leo.

Leo slowly took back his knife, and quickly stood up, backing away from Fuyuhiko. “Where is she?” he demanded. “Where’s my sister?”

“Hm?” Fuyuhiko stood up, a finger on his chin. “Which one? I didn’t know one of them was missing.”

“Don’t play dumb!” Leo snapped, readying his knife. “Where’s Elise?!”

Fuyuhiko suddenly glitched and reappeared right in front of Leo. The latter gasped, teetering backward. Fuyuhiko took the knife in between two fingers and forcefully lowered it to Leo’s side.

“We have no part in that,” Fuyuhiko commented.

“You...what?”

“We haven’t even gotten past Windmire’s walls yet,” Fuyuhiko continued. “Why would we be out here if we did? If anybody’s gone missing, we aren’t related to it.” He then shrugged. “At least that I know of. I do tend to be left out of the loop on some things.”

“Not comforting,” Leo commented.

“Was I supposed to be?” Fuyuhiko stepped back. “Now, you’ve caught me at a rather sour time, and my duty calls me elsewhere. You shouldn’t expect this kind of mercy again, because this is a one-time offer I dearly wish you take. After all, I know both of us don’t want to do this.”

“What...do you mean?”

Fuyuhiko sighed. “Let’s just say I solemnly swear that I will bother Windmire and its citizens no longer. My Master requires me elsewhere due to a recent development you just so happened to walk in on. Thank you for that, by the way!” Fuyuhiko laughed. “It was getting quite dicey!” He then paused. “And before I go, shall you be so kind as to listen to my advice?”

Leo stepped back. “And...that is?”

Fuyuhiko smirked. “Keep an eye on Hoshido. By tomorrow...” A dash of a wicked smile went across his face. “It, along with your precious little kingdom, will be changed forever once more.”

And just like that, he was gone. Red data particles floating away in what wind the nearby lands allowed. Leo shivered, but not from the cold as he watched the last of them fade out like hot ashes floating up from a campfire.

For a moment, Leo forgot where he was. He stood there, stunned with his mind drifting away from the present. With his breath visible in the cold Nohrian night, another involuntary shiver from the cold brought him back to reality.

Immediately, he put back on his mask, sheathing his knife. He’s been gone long enough, and there was nothing more he could do outside of Windmire.


	19. Battle of Nohr: Ending

The morning after the meeting outside of Windmire, Leo walked into the throne room of Castle Krakenburg. As he suspected, his brother was standing in the room, talking to who he recognized as Laslow. Whatever he was saying, Laslow nodded along until Xander made a gesture. With one last exchanging of words, Laslow turned and walked away from him in a brisk manner.

Seeing Xander as free, Leo stepped forward. “Xander?” he questioned. “Are you available to talk?”

Xander turned. “Ah, Leo. Yes, I am. For a few minutes, at least. What do you need?”

Leo paused for a moment before admitting, “You seem to have been quite calm for the past few days despite both the siege and Elise and your infant son going missing.”

Xander paused. “What? Neither of them or missing.”

“Yes, they are,” Leo remarked. “They’ve been missing before the siege on Windmire began. Odin told me all about it.”

“Leo, they’re at the Last City.” Xander seemed confused.

Leo paused. “What?”

“When I heard the news of an army rushing towards us, I told Elise to go to the Last City and to take Siegbert with her for protection. I told her that clerics were needed there since the sudden violent attacks have left a lot of wounded unable to be tended to by the medics on deck at the city.” Xander frowned. “As soon as she went through the technological gate, I had it disassembled with the parts hidden, so if we did fall to the attackers, they wouldn’t be able to use the gate to surprise-attack the Last City.”

“O...Oh.” Leo felt embarrassed, all of a sudden. “I thought that...”

Xander sighed. “Odin told you this, correct? I WAS explaining to him that Elise would be absent, but then he ran off. When he came back a second time to learn more, I barely got out that we were expecting an attack before he scampered off again. He chose to not hear some significant bits of information.”

“Then I’ve been worrying for the past four days for nothing?” Leo asked.

Xander chuckled darkly. “I believe so,” he responded. “But don’t worry. Elise and Siegbert are safe, and away from any possible danger here.”

"Sir!" A guard ran up. "We have news. The enemy forces have breached the outer walls, and have flooded into the surrounding parts of the city. Everything is being burned, with eyewitnesses escaping the danger reporting many people being rounded up and taken away in shackles."

Xander winced. "Damn. Even with an evacuation order, people were still in the outer area?"

"There was nowhere to go!" The guard proclaimed. "All of Windmire's emergency exits were closed off by enemy forces surging in and cornering the citizens!"

Leo frowned. "Then is there another leader?"

Xander paused and looked over. "What did you say, Leo?"

"Last night, I attempted to assassinate Fuyuhiko Weil, the leader of the army laying siege to Windmire. I failed to kill him, but then he said something very odd to me. He swore off on attacking Windmire and the people that reside in it. Instead, he stated that he was required elsewhere."

Xander seemed in disbelief. "I doubt these monsters would be above lying to deceive us."

"I don't know," Leo admitted. "Something about Fuyuhiko's words makes me believe the authenticity of it. He specifically said himself. I don't see why he made the effort of lying about such a menial thing."

"To make us believe the army is leaderless, luring us into a trap!" Xander argued.

"How can that possibly lure us into a trap?" Leo asked. "There has to be a second leader because I find that I believe Fuyuhiko when he says he has personally pulled out of the siege."

“But then who would be the second leader?” Xander questioned.

The main entrance into the throne room was shoved open. As the doors swung wide and slammed against the walls, Xander and Leo looked. When they saw her limp in, Leo’s heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach.

At first, Leo mistook all of the blood for Selena’s hair. But then he saw that too much of it covered her face, standing out against the white in her clothing. She had lost her sword, having nothing but an empty sheath dangling on her belt. A horrific gash had taken a chunk of flesh off of her side, blood following behind her stumbling steps in a gruesome trail.

“Se...” Leo was aghast, lost for words.

Selena sucked in a harsh breath. “Enemies...Right in the main streets!”

“What?!” Xander exclaimed. “So quickly?! But how?!”

“Camilla and Beruka...Shot down! I-I saw them both...fall off of their wyverns...Both impaled with arrows...” Selena gasped in pain. “They were dead b-before they hit the ground...”

The word crashed around Leo. He felt the ground give way under him. A wave of nausea slammed into him head-on, and he almost collapsed to his knees, only able to stand from a hand suddenly grabbing him.

“Milord,” Niles hissed. “If they’re in the main streets, we must leave immediately, for your safety.”

“What...” Leo gasped. “But where would...? The gate is...There’s no time to...” He wheezed, trying to gain his shaken-up bearings.

“We will find a way, milord!” Odin proclaimed. “You just have to have faith in your retainers!” His face was grim, with no theatrics in his voice. He seemed ready to fall and despair himself.

Leo heard the choking gasp, then a gurgle. He turned, and what color was left in his face vanished. Selena could be seen falling to the ground, something in her throat. Upon a longer look, Leo identified it as an arrow, black like umbrite.

“Run!” Xander yelled, drawing his sword. “Take Leo and go!”

“Yes, my king!” Niles pushed Leo along. “This way, Lord Leo!”

“What? No! Xander! XANDEEER!”

Leo was pushed through a doorway, and Odin turned as soon as he and Niles were through. Grabbing the double doors, he closed them quickly but slowing down at the last second. The gentle tap made sure little to no noise emanated from the shutting.

Xander tore his eyes away from the door. He raised his blade, lining it up to block any attack that was about to come through the entrance. He could see his two retainers, Laslow and Peri, raising their weapons to strike as well.

A single figure stepped over Selena’s body. Through their black helmet visor, they glanced down at her hand twitch. After a moment, they stomped on it once. She stopped moving afterward.

The black and purple-clad figure twirled their bow. Placing another arrow into the nock, they looked from Selena to Xander and his retainers.

“Freeze!” Three guards ran at them from the left.

The female figure lunged back from a lance stab and reached out to grab it. With unnatural strength, she proceeded to swing the one holding the lance into the wall. Spinning the lance so she was holding it properly, she ducked under a sword swing and slammed the lance right into the second’s throat.

As they gurgled, the third guardsman swung an axe at her. She jumped back, defending herself by holding up the lance to block two swings. On a third, the axe broke right through the wooden handle, splintering it into two halves. She glanced at them both before tossing both at the guard and ducking under the axe.

The first guardsman looked over as Laslow ran to their side. He held out a hand, and they took it, letting themselves be helped up. Meanwhile, Peri ran at the intruder, joining the third guardsman in a flanking formation.

The intruder looked between both attackers as they slashed at her from different directions. Peri was behind while the guardsman was pressing on her front. The intruder ducked low when Peri swung again, and went for the knees of the guardsman. Punching the kneecap made a sickening popping noise, and he crumpled while howling with pain. The axe clattered to his side, and the intruder picked him up with one hand while placing the axe in her other.

Tempting fate, Peri charged again. The intruder tossed the guardsman right at her. With the lance stuck out, he was speared directly on it. Peri seemed unfazed as the life drained from the guard’s eyes, instead trying to shake his corpse off her weapon with a pout.

As she was doing so, the intruder stood up and aimed the axe. A whistle, the voice cloaked by automators, exited from the helmet. When Peri looked up, the axe was thrown with deadly precision. It sunk into her forehead, and she stumbled back from the force of the impact. Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped before she sank to the floor, lying dead next to the guardsman she inadvertently killed.

The intruder initially attempted to retrieve the axe but had to roll to dodge a sword swing. Both Laslow and the first guard were armed with blades, both charging at her. She stood up and raised her hand. From shadow magic came her bow, summoned to her by hand. She readied herself for the charge at her.

The guard went first, giving a war cry. She leaped backward, dodging the swing of the blade. Laslow went right after him, sword at the ready to stab through her. While she did dodge, he managed to slice open fabric on her arm. What looked like blood dripped out as human skin was revealed underneath the black cloth.

As the intruder stepped back, Xander ran behind the guardsman and Laslow, Siegfried ready in his hands. “This must be the Black Rose.”

“The one that kidnapped Queen Hinoka?” The guard asked.

“They fit the description,” Xander replied. “I’m surprised they’re here in Nohr instead of the army at Hoshido.”

The Black Rose stepped back, then finally spoke. “I'm here because our work within Hoshido was done.”

Xander paused. “What?”

“Queen Hinoka has been killed. Taking her own life to keep her honor intact. Which leaves only one heir left to take the throne.”

“Lies!” The guard charged forward, screaming.

The Black Rose dodged the guard’s swinging. She grabbed him by the collar and reeled her head back. With one smack, both her visor shattered and Xander and Laslow could hear an audible crunch. Blood spewed out from the guard’s helmet, and the Black Rose tossed them aside.

Xander suddenly felt sick. He felt that those pink eyes were familiar. But they were dull and haunted by things he could not comprehend. Thus, he dropped his guard, and almost let go of Siegfried. Instead, it sank so the tip of the blade laid against the ground.

Laslow did not have the same feeling. He charged again at the Black Rose, who once again dodged with an air of boredom. This fight was nothing to her. Her opponents were nothing to her.

“Laslow, stop!” Xander yelled. “That’s an order!”

Laslow did not stop. He still struck out at her. When his blade tried to enter her throat, she grabbed his wrist and twisted it. With a choking noise, Laslow was forced to drop his sword before she grabbed his head and twisted.

The crack sounded across the throne room. Laslow went limp instantly in the Black Rose’s grip. She released him, watching him crumple to the floor without any noise escaping his mouth.

When she spoke, the voice was no longer automated. It sounded too gentle to be from one who had just killed five people without much effort. “Your retainers were very disobedient, Xander.”

Xander’s heart was pounding. Slowly, he raised his shaky sword again. It couldn’t be true.

“Sakura?” He muttered.

The Black Rose said nothing. She reached for her helmet, the visor glass slipping out to the floor. She undid the clasps, and pulled off the helmet, letting short, dark pink hair drop out.

“I am Queen Sakura of Hoshido,” she stated. “One of Lord Fox’s prized soldiers and generals.” She tossed aside the helmet, letting it roll along in the throne room. Proceeding to pick up Laslow’s blade, she pointed it at Xander. “Anything else you question, I will not answer.”


	20. Battle of Nohr: Another Side

Warlic woke up the moment he realized he was falling. Barely able to react in time, he was in free fall for a second before promptly crashing into the ground headfirst. His ears rang and a splitting headache overcame his mind as the rest of his body crashed into the floor afterward, resonating his back with a sharp ache along the spinal cord. Groaning, he got up slowly from where he laid.

When he looked up, he could see something happening with Lance’s bonds. As the Paladin stirred from the yelp that had escaped the Blue Mage’s mouth, the luminescent bonds holding him were glitching. They turned green for a split second, then vanished. And just like that, Lance joined him on the ground with a scream.

There were two more yelps, then thuds, then groans of pain. What light that was in the room had been from the glowing bonds. So just like that, it was pitch dark. Warlic could not even see his hands.

“That hurt,” Jolyon commented.

“What just happened?” Lance questioned.

“We’ve been freed,” Warlic responded. “Obviously.”

“Yea, but by who?” Theodore’s voice piqued up. “If it was our captors, there would be guards coming in to pick us up and take us to who knows where.”

“Maybe they’re getting all relaxed and cocky?” Lance suggested. “I doubt we can even find the door in this darkness, so maybe they’re thinking that we won’t be able to escape, even when we’re not all tied up.”

“I doubt it,” Warlic stated. “Something is at play here.”

“Hey, wait.” Theodore paused. Warlic was guessing he made a ‘silence’ motion, then realized nobody, not even him, would be able to see it. “Do you guys hear that?”

All four of the boys went silent. Then, all of them picked up on it; yelling and screaming. There was also an underlying drone that sounded similar to a siren.

“What IS that?” Theodore asked.

“Something really big is going on, that’s for sure!” There was the sound of footsteps going away from them as Lance spoke. “Where’s the wall?”

Warlic did his best to follow the footsteps. “Lance, what are you doing?”

There was the sound of something being brushed up against something solid. “Feeling for the door, of course! We can’t just sit here while whatever is going on goes on!”

After a moment, Warlic reached out, too. He began to walk forward until the tips of his fingers felt something cool. He pressed his entire palm against it. Metal.

Warlic placed both hands on the wall. “You have a point,” he remarked. “But without light, I’m not even sure if this is the right wall.” He reached to the side. “Where even are you?”

His hand smacked against something warm and soft, and Lance made a sputtering noise. “That would be my face,” he announced.

“Ah. Sorry.” He withdrew the hand immediately.

Warlic himself felt a hand placed on the back of his head, grabbing his white locks. “And who’s this?” Jolyon called.

“Me,” he answered in a curt tone. “Let go of my hair.”

“Got it!” The hand was removed.

“Wait!” Theodore suddenly announced. “I’m grabbing something that feels like a doorknob and is where a doorknob usually is. Hold on.” There was the sound of something rattling. “Damn! Locked.”

“Of course it’s not that easy.” Lance’s voice drifted away from Warlic. “Try being a Titan and bust it open.”

“Okay. Stand back!” Footsteps went backward, then rushed forward to be capped off with a mighty slam.

The light that suddenly flew in allowed Warlic to glimpse Theodore’s body sailing out. The door was ripped right off of its hinges by the pure force he had applied to it.

Lance, who was closest, stumbling back, shielding his unadjusted eyes and yelling in agitation. Warlic was wise enough to raise his arm, his robes providing ample shade. Behind him, Jolyon pulled his hood tighter over his sight.

When his eyes stopped stinging, Warlic slowly peeked out. He saw the door laying against the wall, splintered in half where the doorknob was. Theodore was crumpled on the ground, groaning in pain and covering his eyes with both of his hands.

Warlic walked over, grabbing him by the arm. “Be careful,” he commented, helping him up from the ground.

“Ooh, that stings my eyes.” Theodore blinked away tears. “How long has it since we’ve seen the light?”

“Couple of weeks,” Jolyon confirmed. “Lost track of time.”

Lance peeked up and down the hallway, lowering his hands. “No sign of guards,” he commented.

“They must be busy with whatever’s causing that siren,” Jolyon pointed out.

“Which means we don’t have any better time to get out of here.” Warlic took another look around. “Stick together, and be extremely wary. Keep an eye out for any case of hidden ambushes, and let’s find the exit.”


	21. Battle of Hoshido: Beginning

Hinoka felt alone. Of course, she wasn’t really alone. She had the loyalty of both her deceased siblings’ retainers by her side. Officially, her retainers were of her brother’s, Saizo and Kagero. After rising to the title of queen, she was practically strong-armed into having to let go of her more absentminded and lazy retainers of Azama and Setsuna. She hasn’t seen them for years. This only adds to the bitter feeling in her heart.

She does not have a friend. She does not have a loved one left alive. She has nothing to work for within the world that has taken so many things from her.

After the entire Black Rose scare, all six of the retainers still employed discussed amongst themselves. She knew that she was not supposed to hear it, but she listened in on it anyway. At least they were concerned for her, but Hinoka couldn’t help but think that their form of protecting the queen sounded more like coddling to her.

At the same time, she understood their viewpoint. Her brothers were dead, with her sister practically gone forever. Each of the six retainers lost who they were supposed to protect with their lives. It wasn’t their fault of course, but Hinoka knew they only blamed themselves.

When the attacks on the nearby villages began, Hinoka sent out Subaki and Hana along with a partial amount of forces to curb the attacks. By sunset, she knew by the approaching wave of enemies that they wouldn’t be coming back. Once more, two more lives had been snagged from her grasp, their tethers to the mortal realm cut as if they were blades of grass waiting to be mowed down by hungry animals.

Now, only four retainers remained. Takumi’s and Ryoma’s. How fitting, she dryly commented to herself. She knew that they had the same worries as her. Now, they would never leave her side. In fact, they were practically begging her to flee the castle.

“Hoshidans have honor!” Hinoka practically snarled at a teary-eyed Oboro. “If I flee, that honor is as good as gone! I will stand my ground here, in Castle Shirasagi, and if I die because of it, then so be it!”

Now she sat on the throne, watching the main entrance doors to the throne room. Across her lap was her naginata, ready to be picked up and used for battle. Guards were positioned at each side of the throne, ready to protect her if it came down to it.

There was a sudden shift in the air, a cold breeze flying through. It could have been a normal wind. However, both she and the guards were on edge. As she abruptly stood up, they readied their blades and pointed them at the entrance.

Not a moment sooner, they splintered and slammed open. A ball of darkness shot in, aimed at the throne. Hinoka immediately shifted her stance and lunged to the side. Behind her, the throne exploded into white pieces as she rolled on the ground.

“Protect the queen!” Both of the guards ran forward at the intruder.

They glanced at them both, then twirled their shadowy bow. Loading an arrow, they fired at the closer guard. With deadly precision, it plunged right through his eye. He went down immediately, flung back by the force of the arrow.

The second guard looked back at his comrade with horror. The intruder ran at him and grabbed him by the head. With an almighty show of force, they swung him straight into the ground. His head was completely flattened, with a torrent of blood and gore splattering across the ground where the remains of his skull laid.

The intruder released their grip on the guard. They looked at their hand dripping with blood. Then they shook it a few times as if to absentmindedly flick off some dirt.

Hinoka stepped forward and twirled her naginata to point the blade at them. “A general of the Shadow King’s?” she asked.

The intruder shrugging a shoulder. “You can say that.” They looked at her blade. “Put that down. I know you won’t hurt me.”

“Says who?” Hinoka demanded.

The intruder reached up a hand to her helmet. It vanished immediately into shadows, and her hair dropped out. After a second, Hinoka dropped her weapon.

Sakura had no change in expression, a dull resting face devoid of any amicable looks. “Because it’s  _ me _ ,” she said as if it were obvious.

Hinoka made a choking noise. She focused her gaze on the markings that denounced Sakura as an Otherworlder Reploid. On the way that her little sister, not even taller than her, stared up at her with no visible emotion in her eyes. She was quite literally a robot.

“Seven years,” Hinoka gasped. “You’ve been missing for almost seven years, now. And now you come back… like this!” She gestured to Sakura’s form. “How long has this been...?!”

“As you said,” Sakura replied. “Seven years.”

“Then you were...?”

“The Black Rose that captured you?” Sakura nodded. “Yes, I was. Was I threatening enough for you?”

Hinoka looked around. “Where are the others?” She scrambled to pick up her blade again. “The retainers of our siblings! Did you kill them, too?!”

Sakura waved a hand. “No, no. They aren’t dead.” She paused, and Hinoka did not say anything. She then proceeded to curl her lips up in a smile. “Not yet, anyway. If you do not comply, you will find that consumption is a generally painful process for those affected. It’s displayed on their faces. You’ll be able to see it up close.”

Hinoka made a low hiss. They haven’t even clashed blades, and Sakura’s won the fight. “What do you want?”

“Your public surrender,” Sakura announced. “And Hoshido to withdraw from the Alliance and join the Umbra Mondo. In return, I will not lay my hands on your retainers with the intent to harm them.”

Hinoka had picked back up her weapon again. But she wasn’t pointing it at Sakura. The bottom of the naginata was leaning against the ground next to where she stood, stood up like a staff. The Queen of Hoshido was silent, seeming to contemplate what was laid before her. She was trying to decide which poison to take in this no-win situation.

“Why?” she asked. “Why Hoshido? What’s the tactical advantage for annexing us?”

“To undermine the Alliance’s validity, anything is a tactical advantage,” Sakura merely pointed out in response. “That means removing its supporters.” She stepped forward. “And I doubt your loyal civilians like working under their banner after what happened last year in January.”

“Don’t you DARE speak of that in her voice!” Hinoka snarled.

Sakura spread her arms out. “Then stop me,” she taunted. “I know you won’t lay a hand on me.”

This was a trap. Hinoka could feel it. And yet, she found it impossible to resist it. She raised her weapon again, then lowered it once more. She tried this process a few more times, the naginata trembling in her hands.

Finally, she dropped it completely. “I can’t,” she sobbed. “I can’t hurt you, Sakura.”

“As I told you,” Sakura remarked in return. “You are not the one to blame for that. It’s mere human psychology.” She had this smug tone to her voice, one that wouldn’t seem out of place with Fox saying it. How fitting that she spoke with her master’s attitude.

Hinoka looked down at her weapon. She hadn’t even swung it yet, and the battle was over without a single scuffle.

She felt pathetic. A new kind of weakness crept into her bones, one that sucked out all of her energy and left her drained and tired. Everything over the last seven years seemed to crush her spirit all at once, bringing her down to her knees in a pose of supplication.

Sakura walked up to her, staring down at her sister. Nothing was said in between them. Hinoka didn’t move when Sakura picked up the naginata with both hands, nothing on her face twitching in recognition.

Hinoka looked up at Sakura with a smile, tears forming. “At least I got to see you again,” she murmured.

“Then you understand what must be done?” Sakura asked.

“I do,” Hinoka answered. “And I failed my people enough to not be able to resist this.” She looked away. “I was never a good ruler, was I?”

“Perhaps not.” After a moment, Sakura extended the naginata back towards Hinoka. “However, I am not without understanding. Honor is important to us.”

Hinoka slowly took the naginata. It felt cold and unwelcoming, even though she was holding it just seconds ago. But still, the tight feeling in her chest lessened a bit.

“Thank you, Sakura,” Hinoka said. “For allowing me to be in the presence of those I love.”

Sakura said nothing. She watched Hinoka raise the blade to her neck, and draw it across.

As Hinoka fell to the side, Sakura said quietly, “You’re welcome, big sister.”


	22. Battle of Hoshido: Halfway

The Cyber Elves had to count three times to make sure they weren’t imagining things. They could swear there were four retainers, not five.

There were originally six retainers. They killed two of the retainers in the village they burned to cinders on their way to Hoshido. That would leave four. So where did the extra person come from?

They couldn’t tell who the fifth extra person was the non-retainer. All of them were claiming to protect the queen with their lives. So they simply captured all of them alive. They would make wonderful units in the Cyber Elf army.

All except the blind one, of course. He was a quiet one, only saying he serves the queen and nothing else. He wore only a simple monk outfit, holding a plain staff. His eyes were dull, barely visible against his white sclera. He didn’t smile, but he wasn’t frowning, either. And unlike the other four, he did not resist at all when he was put into shackles. The Elf could tell that a lot of their soldiers were under the belief that he was the one lying about being a retainer, due to his calm attitude.

On the other hand, that just scared the Cyber Elf even more. It was unnerving, his silence. It was as if he was planning something. He wasn't smiling or resisting. He just sat where he was placed by the Elves.

He left the prisoners with his partners. Standing just down the hall from the palace room they were being held in, he was holding a datapad. A system report, to be uploaded to the Umbra Mondo.

"June 13th," the Elf stated to himself. "621, 9:31 AM. The complete conquering of Hoshido has been a resounding success. The Black Rose is now rechristened as Queen Sakura of Hoshido. Forces are being mobilized to aid the army in Windmire currently failing to bypass its walls. All of the civilian rabbles have been quelled, and the four retainers have been captured, with a strange fifth addition. Currently looking into which of the five is the liar."

He swiped the brand new log aside. The hallway felt colder as one of the torches went out. Lack of tending, or cold air.

Crowning the brand new queen was a spectacle to be seen. The civilians were openly weeping, watching the Queen be crowned with a circlet of ebony. The Shadow King decided to spare some moments of his time to knight her, tapping both of her shoulders with his axe. They had no regard for performing such a ceremony in a filthy Hoshidan manner.

Somebody attempted to stop this glorious tribute to the new queen. Hopping the manmade fence, they only made it a quarter of the way up the steps before about twenty bullets entered their body. The queen, as her first act, got to stomp on their neck to end their miserable life.

The grand monarch himself had a smile on his face. He must relish crushing such a measly act of rebellion. Or perhaps he was proud of the Black Rose. He taught her himself, since the Otherworlder War.

Two more torches went out, a gust of wind flying in. There must be an open window somewhere.

The Cyber Elf pulled out his communicator and turned it on. "Status update on the retainers."

After a moment, a male voice returned. "Status update. All five are still secured. None of them are admitting to being the false retainer. Advice?"

Advice. Such a strange and alien word. They used orders now, not advice. He was surprised that the word was used amongst the Cyber Elf soldiers. Perhaps they picked it up from the civilians or an Umbrati comrade.

"I will be sending soldiers over to pick up the five and send them off in portals to be converted in the Umbra Mondo by use of the Mother Elf," the Cyber Elf decided. "Keep an eye on them until then."

"Certainly." The recipient clicked off of the frequency, signaling the Elf to do the same.

They've been holding the retainers for four hours now. From what he's seen, they would drag off the prisoners, one by one, and administer electric torture to get them to confess who was the false retainer. None spilled a single word. And the blind one stayed quiet, not even a yelp of pain or curse of anger.

Now, this was getting annoying. All of the torches have been extinguished. Flickering out one by one, taken out by heavy, short bursts of winds.

Leaving behind the hallway, the Cyber Elf began to walk towards the main entrance. Making sure none of the civilians got inside was a priority. These Hoshidans would love to die to avenge their previous queen.

They stepped through the entrance, looking down at the blockades set up. Umbrati and Elves alike were holding back angry, protesting crowds. The queen has ordered no lives to be taken unless absolutely necessary. This event of necessity was fast approaching.

Next to him, a Cyber Elf raised a megaphone. "This is an unlawful gathering," they announced. "Disperse immediately, or crowd dispersal methods will be used."

They were chanting something. There were various verses, such as "Justice for the true queen!" and "Glory to Hoshido!" Meaningless words strung together for a fruitless cause. Nobody heard them.

A puff of white, then a loud crack. Tear gas and smoke grenades have begun to enter the crowd, accompanied by bullets. A few civilians collapsed at once. A mother and her child fell dead on the pathway. The rest of them began to scream and disperse, trying to shield each other while they ran to safety.

Blood began to travel through the cracks in the stone ground. Cyber Elves hopped the blockades, shooting at the fleeing protestors. Such unlawful actions must be punctuated as the wrong choice. Therefore, nobody would do it again.

Calmly watching the scene, the Elf glanced to their right. Three people in restraints were being led down the steps by numerous Cyber Elf soldiers.

"Are those the retainers?" The Elf asked the group. "Where are the other two?"

The leading Elf raised a hand, and the group paused. They all looked at the lone Elf, and the leader said, "Repeat that?"

"There are five who claim to be retainers," the Elf announced. "Two of them are missing."

"The guards said that another group took two of them ahead," the leader responded. "It was to lessen the chance of a group effort to escape. All of them are formidable together."

"Understood. Carry on." The Elf gestured forward.

They all began moving again, prodding the prisoners along. They would be taken to the Umbra Mondo via a portal, where they would become consumed by darkness or uploaded into the Mother Elf's mainframe. Either way would provide soldiers loyal to the glorious king's cause.

As they turned to reenter the conquered palace, they noticed two fully-armored soldiers. They must be Umbrati. One was tapping their umbrite sword against the steps with every twirl. It seemed to be a habit of show.

Once they got halfway, the other nudged them, and they stopped twirling their blade. Instead, they kept their shoulders together and walked side by side as the Elf passed them. A sign of companionship between the two. They must be pure-blood to think this coherently.

The Elf watched as they went. Strands of blue hair poked out of the back of the second soldier's helmet. Their umbrite lance was held by their side in a knightly, formal position. He didn't know Umbrati could have blue hair. Perhaps it was dark and was lightened by the bright sun of Hoshido.

Turning away from the two, the Elf continued to walk up the steps to the palace. Behind him, the screams of the protestors being shot and tear-gassed echoed in his ears, but he didn't bother to listen to them.


	23. Battle of Hoshido: Ending

In the throne room, Queen Sakura and King Xander circled each other. Both of their weapons were in their hands to be readied at a moment's notice. Around them laid the bodies of the three guards and two retainers that Sakura killed upon entry.

"Why?" Xander asked in a broken voice.

Sakura inspected Laslow's blade, not stumbling in her steps. "I told you," she answered. "I won't answer any more questions from you."

"You know that this is wrong. You have to."

"My opinion does not matter." Sakura swung the sword once, twice. "What matters is that I carry out his Majesty's will."

Xander shook his head. "I know that all of this is not of your will." He hefted his sword up, pointing it at her. "I will do what your siblings would want me to do."

"And what would that be?"

"To stop you, and remove Fox's control over you."

Sakura lifted the sword she had as well. "You will try," she guaranteed.

The doors behind the two swung open, and Sakura glanced behind her. Xander tensed up as four guards ran in, all armed with pikes. With her head turned, Xander charged at her, raising his sword to slash at her.

Sakura glanced back to see him running. At once, she weaved out of the way, skirting around the side and keeping her back close against the wall. She initially lifted the sword to fight against Xander, then looked again at the guards flanking the king, two on each side.

“Five against one,” she commented. “That is hardly fair.”

“Surrender now, Sakura,” Xander commanded. “I don’t want to hurt you, but if it comes down to it, I will.”

“Well, I am well-prepared to take the lives of everyone in this throne room. I will not hold back, even if you get on your knees and beg me to.”

“...Very well.” Xander pointed his sword forward. “Take her alive, by any means necessary!”

The four guards charged forward at once, raising their pikes and screaming. Sakura lept to the side, running along the wall and avoiding the tips of the pikes.

Reaching the end of the room, she spun around, raising her bow. As if bending to her will, shadows swirled around her feet, rising into the nock of her bow and solidifying into an arrow. She stretched the magical bowstring back, hair blown by dark-tinted winds.

The first arrow hit a guard dead on. He was dead before he hit the ground. The second sliced another man’s pike clean in half, rendering him weaponless. Each arrow fired sliced through the air, making a high-pitched whizzing noise. It was like the area around them warped with the power of darkness before restabilizing.

Before she could summon the third arrow, the third guard caught up to her. She swiftly ducked to avoid a stab from his pike, then lept out in return. Her hand curled around his wrist, and her other arm was brought down on his arm. There was a cracking noise, and the guard screamed. He immediately dropped his pike before Sakura pushed him back into the other armed guard.

Sakura cast aside her bow, and it vanished back into darkness. She let Laslow’s sword clatter by her side as well. Picking up the dropped pike, she aimed and threw it with practiced accuracy. The two guards just getting up were both speared through by the pike. The one in the back had it driven through his chest, while the one in front avoided a fatal blow by going just below into his abdomen. However, both screamed and gurgled in pain, one dying slowly while the other tried to get himself off of the pike.

Picking back up the blade by kicking it upwards into her hand, Sakura deflected sword swings by Xander. She kept stumbling back, keeping her ground as best as she could. As she did so, she could see the fourth and final guard initially attempting to free his comrade from the pike.

Sakura glanced around, then up. The throne room of Castle Krakenburg had been furnished over the years. There was a lot more glamour to the drab, one may say. A beautiful ebony chandelier hung low, swinging on multiple chains connecting it to the ceiling.

She made sure to dodge Xander one last time before running past him. She got a running start before leaping towards the two remaining guards. The one impaled was only halfway off when he noticed Sakura lunging forward. He screamed and ducked, allowing her foot to hit the corpse pinned on his back. She put her weight forward, and the head was forcibly bent back with a sickening crunch as she used the extra boost to leap higher into the air.

Her hand wrapped around one of the arms of the chandelier, and she swung herself up. As her feet were safely wrapped onto the ornament, the arm she was holding onto snapped off into her hand. On cue, one of the multiple chains holding up the chandelier broke as well, and she immediately grabbed on, teetering.

Xander ran up to where he was close to the chandelier, but not under it in case it would fall. “Get down from there!” He yelled. “It can barely support a human’s weight, let alone a Reploid’s!”

Sakura seemed to ignore Xander. Instead, she leaned forward, and the chandelier began to swing. When it did so, she tilted her body to the side, making it start to spin. More of the chains began to snap, and the chandelier was soon spinning out of control.

Upon getting at a speed Sakura was satisfied with, she cut the last chain holding up the chandelier. Like a rocket, she sailed towards the guard still trying to help his impaled friend.

When he looked up and saw the approach, he let go of his friend and dodged. The latter was still stuck on the pike and laden with a corpse sliding towards him constantly. He wasn’t even able to look in time before the chandelier bowled him over. Bones were crunched, and skin split at every joint. Cracked splinters of bone poked out of the ripped-open skin, and his head was crushed like a watermelon. 

Sakura stepped off of her handiwork and took a second to admire it. Both the guard and Xander stumbled back, temporarily paralyzed by the sudden and brutal death. Both sides looked up at each other at the same time. All three of them raised their swords or pike, resuming the fight.

Xander ran forward, clashing his blade with Sakura. She skidded back, holding her sword up to block any attacks instead of instigating them. She continuously hopped around, avoiding both his and the guard’s attacks.

Finally, she disappeared into the shadows, leaving behind a bloom of dark mist. As the guard coughed, Xander spun around. His sword was continuously raised, and he was more tensed than ever now.

When the wind picked up again, Xander swung around. Sakura stood on the throne, bow full with an arrow. He immediately swerved to the side, as the guard looked over. He got an arrow in his eye for that, and he screamed until a second arrow entered his throat and cut off his yells with gurgles.

Sakura hopped off the throne calmly. “Now it is you and me,” she announced plainly.

Xander readied his sword. “I’m fine with that,” he clarified.

Sakura said nothing as Xander charged for the third time. She cast aside her bow, letting it go back into the shadows once more. Instead, she proceeded to pull out a shadowy gun and shot him straight in the chest, downing him instantly.

Xander laid on the ground, choking up blood. He placed a hand on where the bullet that shredded through his armor, and where blood was pooling out. “You shot me,” he gasped.

“You’re surprised?” Sakura questioned.

“You’re a Hoshidan,” Xander reasoned. “Apparently the queen. You’re supposed to have honor.”

“I threw a chandelier on one of your soldiers just a minute ago,” Sakura pointed out. “You should have known by then that I wasn’t going to duel with a sword and bow only and call it a day.” She then shrugged. “And you are one to talk about fighting fairly when it was five against one. Guns are meant to kill people. I shouldn’t starve such an amazing weapon of that.”

Xander lifted his body partially as Sakura walked forward. “Then you plan to kill me now.”

“Quite so.” Sakura lifted the gun.

“Then at least tell me. From what I know by Rowan, the first Otherworlder Reploid, your kills are logged. For both humans and robotics.” Xander’s shoulders sagged. “So tell me, how many people have you killed?” he asked sadly.

Sakura did not hesitate in answering. “Killing the princess, her retainers, and now nine people in this throne room, that would bring me to a total of 5023 people. 4801 people, and 222 mechanoids.” She fired the gun, and Xander’s head exploded in gore. A number changed in the corner of her vision. “Make that 5024.”


	24. Battle of Hoshido: Another Side

Lance and Jolyon’s description of the prison system seemed to have some truth to them. Warlic could assume that some of the doors had been black with German signs on them. However, some of them were completely missing from their hinges, and peeking into the rooms would reveal that seemingly, nothing important to them was inside.

Theodore was currently trying to open a door but was failing to do so. Meanwhile, Lance and Jolyon were both debating about which one they came in through. And at the same time, Warlic was running his hand across one of the German plaques: Flur acht-drei-blau.

“Flur shows up a lot on most of the closed doors,” Warlic commented. “I believe these are the doors that lead to different hallways.”

“Why couldn’t one of THOSE doors be open, huh?” Theodore grunted, placing his foot on the door of the doorknob he was trying to practically pull off.

“Probably because they’re more restricted?” Lance guessed. “The other doors just seem to lead to other big prison rooms.”

“Then where are the prisoners in those rooms?” Jolyon asked. “Was there nobody at all in them?”

Warlic walked over to one of the frames without a door anymore. He placed a hand on it, then glanced to the side. Right to the side was a glass wall file with a clipboard on it. Taking it, he looked over the long, extensive notes in German. He wasn’t exactly looking for anything. He just wanted to seem too distracted to enter the discussion of bickering the other three were having.

“Everything’s in German!” Lance called. “I don’t think you’ll find anything in English, Warlic!”

Warlic put back the clipboard. “You’re right,” he commented. “This language barrier is preventing me from learning what exactly this room was.”

“Okay, but can we start talking about why the doors are missing?” Jolyon asked. “What’s up with that?”

Warlic was about to answer, then noticed something. A ripple, then a red tear in the formulated reality. It was right next to where Theodore was. The latter jumped back immediately, raising his fists to protect himself.

From the tear stepped Fuyuhiko, white cloak flying behind him. He immediately stopped, noticing the four standing in the hallway. He looked around at the environment, not saying anything. Then, he looked back at the escaped prisoners but did not move.

“Well?” Lance dared. “Are you gonna do something, or what?”

Fuyuhiko only frowned. “You all escaped,” he commented. “No doubt due to his interference.”

“You know who did this,” Warlic remarked.

“I was called out of Nohr to deal with him,” Fuyuhiko clarified. “If there is anybody who can ruin our plans, it is him. And he has run straight to us this time around.”

Jolyon frowned. “You guys are attacking Nohr right now?”   
  


“And Hoshido,” Fuyuhiko added. “Both kingdoms are expected to be under our control by the end of the week.”

Lance seemed annoyed. “You seem really casual about something like that!” he complained.

“What can I say?” Fuyuhiko shrugged. “My mind is elsewhere. I apologize.”

Theodore bashed his shoulder once into the door before proceeding to glare. “So, are you here to mock us, or what?” he asked.

“Frankly, I didn’t know that you four escaped,” Fuyuhiko said, then added, “Somewhat. Get out of this room first, and then we can discuss if you’re escaping or not.”

“Oh, hardy har!” Jolyon cried out.

Fuyuhiko only smiled back. “Hardy har indeed.” He turned away from them. “I wish I could stay and chat more, but my business here really is important to complete. I’m afraid we’ll have to chat like this a different time.”

Warlic began to walk forward. "Wait!"

Fuyuhiko gave a single wave of his hand, then turned around. His form fizzed red, then disappeared. Data particles drifted away before vanishing in midair. Lance tapped one and it crackled, then vanished in a pop itself.

Warlic stood there, staring at where he had just been. He placed a hand to his chin, in deep consideration.

"What just happened?" Theodore questioned.

"I don't know," Warlic responded. "But he was certainly busy enough to not bother with escaped prisoners."

"Yea, and we've got a 'him' to thank," Lance pointed out. "That 'him' must have gone through here."

Jolyon shook his head. "Doesn't look like that. He opened some doors, but he didn't open an obvious exit that he used to leave."

"...What if he didn't?"

Jolyon glanced over at Warlic. "Huh?" He asked.

“What if he’s still here?” Warlic gestured around. “There’s no visible way he left, so maybe he entered the digital realm in this place, and just hasn’t left the area yet.”

“That’s a weird theory,” Lance commented. “And probably wrong.”

Something small and green hit the back of Lance’s head. He immediately yelped in fright as it clattered to the ground. Everyone spun around, a few of them even reaching for weapons they didn’t even have.

The sudden new addition to the room chuckled, stepping back a bit. "Easy there, fellas," he said. "Ol' Drifter doesn't bite."

Warlic looked the man up and down. He was wearing a hood over his head, complete with what looked like a filtration mask over his mouth. He looked ready to enter a warzone. Though thinking about it, this prison could be counted as such.

"You?" Theodore suddenly exclaimed as Lance knelt and picked up the coin laying on one side on the floor.

Jolyon nudged him with his shoulder. "You know him?" He questioned.

"As he introduced himself," Theodore said. "That's the Drifter. The guy that disappeared when the Umbrati began the Alliance-Umbra War." He cast the Drifter a glare. "You know, how you ditched the Tower in its time of need?"

"Whoa, there." The Drifter stuck his hands up. "Was never aligned with those guys. No, I prefer ta be on my lonesome. There was no obligation for me to stick around a burnin' buildin', ya know?"

Warlic gestured his hand to the hall. "I take it you're the one Fuyuhiko was just talking about?" He asked.

The Drifter seemed to pause for a moment. "The kid was here?" When Warlic nodded, he clenched the fist brought up to his head to scratch it past his hood. "Damn. Missed my chance, then."

"Don't worry about that," Lance remarked, tossing the coin from one hand to the other. "He made it very clear he was looking for you, so you'll run into him again. That is, if you ARE the guy that caused our restraints and some other doors to suddenly dissolve."

The Drifter reached a hand and snagged the coin out from midair, twirling it between two fingers. "That I am. What, you want a 'you're welcome'?"

"Get to the point." Warlic suddenly approached the Drifter, having been the farthest away from him. "I imagine you're here for a reason other than simply freeing us, as you are not aligned with the Alliance. And judging by your words, I believe it has something to do with Fuyuhiko. So what is it?"

"Cool yer jets, pajama boy." The Drifter pushed back Warlic with two fingers. "Yer gettin' all worked up over business that ain't yer own, ya know? Freein' you boys was just a plus to what I'm here for."

"So I'm right?"

"On the money, in fact," The Drifter remarked. "Ding ding ding, you got it. I'm here to repay a debt to Fuyuhiko, and that means freein' him from whatever spell the Shadow King's got on him."

Warlic blinked. "You can do that?" He asked. "So theoretically-"

"I know what yer gonna ask." The Drifter cut him off. "Can I do the same for his siblings?" He shook his head. "No. They don't have the same data structure Fuyuhiko has, so if I were goin' to, I would need a completely different method to free them."

"And would you need help with that?" Warlic took another step closer.

"Now, hold on." The Drifter raised both his hands in a 'wait' motion, and Warlic did so. "It seems you've got an agenda of yer own, huh?"

"I want everyone that doesn't deserve to be involved in this situation out of it," Warlic declared. "That includes all of the Weil siblings."

A low whistle passed the filtration mask. "Got that spark of determination in yer gut, huh?" The Drifter poked the bridge of Warlic's nose, and the latter stumbled back, blinking on reflex. "I might like ya. What's yer name?"

He took a moment before answering. "Warlic," he said.

"Th' Blue Mage?"

Warlic visibly stuttered, pausing in place. "You know? I believed that..."

"Just because I'm goin’ under the radar doesn't mean I can't hear about what's goin’ on through the back alleys." The Drifter chuckled before adding, "I might know even more than the Alliance council would want anyone to."

"And what does that mean?" Jolyon butted into the conversation.

"Please be polite." The Drifter gestured between him and Warlic. "This is a two-way conversation. Just us. Mingle with yer other buddies, won't ya, Till the Rachis?"

Warlic noticed Jolyon looked offended, so he spoke up again. "So you're just here for Fuyuhiko."

The Drifter shrugged. "What if I am? Doesn't change yer position, does it?"

"You know that we cannot escape without help," Warlic pointed out. "And you may need the extra hands in this crusade of yours."

"Whoa, whoa, hey!" Lance butted in. "At least talk to us about these kinds of decisions!" He began waving his hands. "We're a team! T-E-A-M! Communication is key!"

This only made the Drifter give a short bark of laughter. "No, I think pajama boy's got some truth in his words," he remarked. "You all need my help to escape. You don't have the abilities in the digital realm as I do." He turned away, waving a hand. "But keep yer dignity intact. I can't force any opinion on ya."

Theodore quickly elbowed Lance. "Hey!" He hissed. "He's right; we do need him."

Lance threw his arms up in exasperation. "Well, apparently, it's Warlic's choice, because he's suddenly the team leader here!"

Warlic looked over at Lance over his shoulder. "I never said that." He defended himself.

"Well, you certainly began to act like it!"

"Since when? I'm being smart, not leaderly," Warlic clarified.

"Alright, alright!" Jolyon called. "Girls, you're both pretty. Lance, come on. We do need him if he's got higher control over the digital realm than we do."

Lance made an exaggerated sigh, slowly deflating. "...Fine," he murmured. "If we die, it's your fault, though."

Warlic only shrugged. "I can live with that."

Behind them, the Drifter may have had half of his face obscured, but the way he had his eyebrows quirked spoke volumes about his confusion. "You all lost me," he admitted. "Are ya with me or not?"

Warlic rolled his eyes and stuck out his hand. "You've got yourself a deal," he said. "We help you save Fuyuhiko, and in return, you'll help us escape."

After a pause, the Drifter replied, "That's all I needed to hear." None of them could see it, but they could practically hear the smug smile in his voice as he shook Warlic's hand.


	25. Prison Breakout: Beginning

The Cyber Elf wasn't given the time to react properly. A whistle came from behind in the hallway that they stood in. Confused, they turned their head to look to meet the end of a pulse rifle. A cocky grin was the last they saw before their head exploded into particles, and the rest of their body fizzed out into nothingness.

Lance lowered the green print of a standard pulse rifle. "Hallway's clear!" He announced behind him.

The four running from another room to join him also had what looked less like actual weapons and more like green 3D prints of them. Warlic was holding a staff, Theodore with a shotgun, and Jolyon had a sniper rifle. In the back was the Drifter, constantly keeping a hand on the handcannon stuffed under his belt.

Lance looked over at the Drifter. “Which door?”

He glanced over before flipping opening a handheld device, staring at the screen. “Main exit’s bein’ detected to the left of us, but I don’t suggest tryin’ to go that way out.”

“Right,” Jolyon agreed. “That’s probably going to be the most guarded place currently. I mean, has the entire prison broken out?”

The Drifter gave a wry grin. “Deleted all of the codin’s in the system constructin’ those bonds. I bet all of the prisoners here are scurryin’ around right now, distractin’ the Shadow King temporarily.”

However, Theodore frowned. “I think they know you’re here, though. That would only buy you a few minutes, at least.”

“I was hopin’ that I wasn’t nearly found as fast as I was,” the Drifter admitted. “I mean, I blew up the secondary prison grounds fer a reason.”

Warlic suddenly whipped around. “Hold on, you what?”

“The secondary prison,” the Drifter stated with no change in tone. “Blew it up. Nobody died, of course, but I let loose the entirety of prisoners into the adjacent systems.”

“No wonder why there’s barely any Cyber Elves,” Lance realized. “They’re all trying to round up the potentially thousands of prisoners.”

“Seventy-three thousand, five hundred and twenty-two,” the Drifter noted. “All runnin’ about and generally causin’ a very big headache to the big boss.” He then frowned. “Can’t save them all, but allowed them to run free. They can’t stop ‘em all.”

“I...don’t know what to think of that,” Warlic admitted.

“How about we give him his fair share of respect?” Theodore clapped a hand on the Drifter’s back. “The Alliance would love a wild card like you!”

The Drifter gave a barking laugh, shoving aside Theodore’s hand. “I wouldn’t dream of working for those hoity-toity bastards, and they would never let me in, but thanks fer the offer?”

“It’ll always be open,” Theodore responded in the same complacent manner.

“So what is there besides the main exit?” Lance pointed the rifle further down the hall.

The Drifter checked again on the handheld, going quiet as he squinted a bit. After a moment, he pulled up a green interface full of coding. He seemed to be looking for something, scrolling up and down. Then, he stopped and began to type on the connected keyboard.

“Take positions at the door labeled ‘Gefängniszelle zwei-zwei-sieben’,” he said. “It’s a prison cell, but it has a back exit that will lead us into another wing that we can use to get to a different exit.”

The four nodded and looked around. Jolyon saw the plaque first and quickly ran over to it. The others followed his lead towards the door. They all knelt on either side, raising their weapons and waiting for the Drifter’s cue.

As he continued to type, Theodore asked, “Why can’t you just teleport us out like you teleported in?”

“Because that’s not how it works,” the Drifter replied without looking at him. “When I do the teleportin’ thing, I need to have a set destination. I don’t know what the Alliance systems are. If we teleported out with the links I do have, you all will just end up on my ship, lightyears away from the physical bodies you belong in.”

“Then how’d you get the stuff to this system?” Theodore decided to question further.

“Fuyuhiko,” was the simple response. “I have a trackin’ system in him, so that’s where I retrieved the data from.”

“Wait, so you know where he is?” Lance glanced over his shoulder.

The Drifter paused before correcting him. “Used to. The data I used for trackin’ purposes got deleted, but I managed to get what I wanted before it was. Now I don’t even know if he’s in this system.”

“He is,” Jolyon assured him. “And looking for you. So we could actually be running in circles in chasing each other.”

The Drifter grimaced. “Not a good thought,” he pointed out, then typed a few more things into the keyboard. “Alright. The door’s unlocked, so-”

They didn’t need to open the door. A cacophony of noise erupted as something red and crackling blasted it straight across the hallway. Everyone slammed their backs to the wall immediately as a figure leaped through the doorframe now without a door, a red glitching effect following.

“Found him,” was all Lance had to say before he had to drop the rest of the way to the floor to avoid a swipe directed at his head.

Fuyuhiko wheeled around to avoid a staff swing from Warlic. He jumped back a few feet, watching the rest of them begin to aim their guns.

“Hey!” The Drifter yelled, making them pause. “Those are meant to kill! I can’t save him if he’s dead, you know!”

“Then where’s the nonlethal part of the guns?” Lance replied. “Where’s the rubber bullets?”

“Rubber bullets are still lethal if shot directly at one person,” Warlic said as he continuously dodged any attacks directed to him by Fuyuhiko. “You have to shoot at the ground so they bounce up and hit someone harmlessly. A lot of people don’t seem to know that and just shoot them outright at someone, making them potentially lethal.” He made a scoffing noise. “They are idiots.”

“Did I ask?”

“No, but I wanted to make sure you were more educated on the use of rubber bullets than most police forces back in the day.” Warlic jumped the rest of the way down the hall away from Fuyuhiko.

Jolyon stepped back to join him. “Okay, so we can’t shoot him. How are we supposed to take him down, then?”

The Drifter said nothing, and Jolyon turned his head to look at what he was doing. He was crouching on the ground, on the other side of the hallway. He had left Theodore and Lance to duck and weave around Fuyuhiko to preoccupy him. Holding his device in one hand, he was typing into a new interface with his other, glancing between both of them occasionally.

“Hey!” Lance yelled. “Quit typing on your fancy toys and help us!”

The Drifter snapped his head up, alarmed at the attention suddenly being on him. Fuyuhiko looked over at him, not so interested in the other four anymore.

Fuyuhiko raised his clawed arm, and it glitched for a moment. The interface suddenly went up in a red explosion, and the Drifter stumbled backward, putting up an arm to cover his face. When he lowered it, he saw Fuyuhiko rushing at him, holding a red knife in his hand, and quickly got up and ran to avoid the swings.

“You know, maybe I was typin’ on my ‘fancy toys’ for a REASON!” The Drifter snapped as he continuously ducked. “Thought of that, blue boy?!”

Lance suddenly looked awkward standing there. “Oh,” he remarked. “Yea, probably.”

Theodore ran in front of the Drifter and raised his shotgun. Fuyuhiko’s knife slammed into it, and partially sank in before stopping. After a second, the shotgun crumbled into data particles, and Fuyuhiko drew back his now freed knife before stabbing it forward, nearly spearing Theodore with it.

“Careful!” The Drifter warned. “I don’t feel like repeatedly makin’ you guys weapons whenever you destroy yours!”

“Then do you got a hammer blueprint?” Theodore called.

After a moment, The Drifter seemed to smirk. “I’m on it.”

After a few seconds, green particles solidified in Theodore’s dominant hand. Gripping the handle of the brand new hammer, Theodore made sure to aim before swinging it. When Fuyuhiko stabbed out again, he smacked the hammer right into the elbow of his attacker. There was a yelp of pain, the first thing Fuyuhiko has said this entire time, and the knife clattered on the ground before fizzing out.

“He’s disarmed!” Theodore announced. “Drifter, start doing your magic again!”

As the Drifter pulled back up the interface, Fuyuhiko tried to lunge at him. Theodore reached out and got Fuyuhiko’s neck secured by the crook of his elbow. He choked, having not been prepared for the sudden grapple attack. Still, he kicked, thrashed, and tried to even bite Theodore’s arm as he was forced to the ground.

“Got him!” Theodore had a struggle with keeping Fuyuhiko down. “Well, sort of! For a scrawny kid, he puts up a fight!”

“This is the digital realm,” Warlic remarked. “Physical strength does not matter.”

“Keep him pinned down!” The Drifter yelled. “I’ve almost got it!”

Theodore had Fuyuhiko on the ground for all of ten seconds. The boy suddenly cocked an arm up, swinging his elbow cleanly into Theodore’s left cheek. The impact sent him tumbling and rolling straight off of Fuyuhiko.

Warlic lunged in front of the Drifter. “Watch out!” he cried, raising his staff to attempt to deflect any blows.

Fuyuhiko sat up partially and waved his hand across Warlic. The wall jutted out with a static noise that caused the Drifter to reel. Columns of red slammed into Warlic’s side, and he went flying into the adjacent wall. As they retreated to reveal a stunned Drifter staring up at Fuyuhiko, Warlic crumpled to the ground immediately.

Theodore scrambled up to run to his side. “Warlic!” he yelled, kneeling by him. “Are you alright?”

Jolyon raised his sniper at Fuyuhiko getting up. “Kid, one chance to back down is all you’re getting,” he growled. “We just want to help you.”

“Then help me by staying out of this,” Fuyuhiko replied. This is between me-” He jabbed a thumb into his own chest. “-and him.” He pointed at the Drifter standing up from crouching down as well.

Lance raised his pulse rifle. “Sorry, but no can-”

“Wait.” The Drifter held up his hand, his palm facing towards Lance. “Listen to him.”

“Huh?” Lance lowered his pulse rifle. “What? You’re actually taking him on alone?”

“If that’s what he wants, he’s goin’ to get that.” The Drifter closed the handheld with a snap, and it disappeared from his hand. The interface floated after him wherever he moved, in this case being forward.

Lance stepped forward as well, but a hand was placed on his chest. He looked as Jolyon shoved him back slightly, shaking his head silently. After a second, Lance sighed and lowered his pulse rifle, as well.

The Drifter took two steps forward. “You guys better get out of here,” he warned.

“What?” Jolyon questioned.

The Drifter tossed something behind his back. Lance, on instinct, snagged it out of the air and looked at it clutched in his hand. It was the handheld the Drifter had been carrying around this entire time.

“Use it to find your way out,” the Drifter stated. “I’ll catch up with you when I can.” He chuckled. “Shouldn’t be too hard to follow yer inevitable path of destruction.”

“I thought the whole point of our deal was that we would help you with him!” Warlic pointed out, gesturing a hand to Fuyuhiko.

“Look, if the kid wants a one-on-one? He’s gettin’ a one-on-one.” The Drifter waved his hand. “Just go before he makes ya, or calls in some goons to throw you right back in prison.”

Fuyuhiko laughed. “I have no reason for doing that.” His voice sounded garbled and glitched, not Fuyuhiko’s own. “They wouldn’t even make it to the door.”

The Drifter’s entire mood seemed to change. He had been slightly slanting to the side, arms slack at the side. Now, one hand suddenly shot to where his handcannon was, and he went ramrod straight. Warlic couldn’t see his face from where he stood, but he did notice his shoulders tense.

“Go,” he growled in an icy tone.

Warlic said nothing. He turned to the other three and gestured forward with two fingers. They got the message and ran back towards the doorframe of Gefängniszelle zwei-zwei-sieben. Warlic made sure they entered one by one before following in last. He looked up at the Drifter with his back to him again before doing so, however.

“Struck a nerve?” Fuyuhiko smiled. “Did I?”

“Don’t you dare use his mouth to talk yer talk, Yukio,” the Drifter growled. “You’ve done enough to him.”

“I don’t think I’ve even begun,” the King of Spades replied, voice cracking for a second before returning to normal. “I had a schedule. He screamed and begged for his life eight to ten hours a day, seven days a week, for three months. Four if you add his unwilling conscription to my ranks. You should have heard him! He was all-”

Fuyuhiko suddenly glitched and held his head. “Please, please stop!” He sobbed. “Get out of my head! I don’t want to hurt anymore! Please make it stop, I’m sorry, I’ll serve you, I’ll do anything, just please-”

He popped back up with a grin. “Of course, he was saying that right now, but it totally matched what he was rambling about in that little prison cell I stuck him in.”

“That’s a fuckin’ kid!” The Drifter exclaimed, drawing his handcannon in one movement. “Hell, all of them are! Kids that don’t deserve the hell you’re puttin’ them all through!”

The King of Spades scoffed. “Oh, please,” he remarked. “They’re bits of data. Removable coding. I can end their entire lives with one press of a button.”

“I can end yer life with one bullet,” the Drifter replied. “Terms of mortality doesn’t make ‘em any different from us.”

“Oh please,” the King of Spades said. “Do you really care about this kid? Or are you quote-on-quote ‘saving’ him to fulfill what you think is an obligation?”

The Drifter placed both hands on his gun. “Last warnin’,” he growled.

“Not even denying it.” The King of Spades chuckled. “You know I am going to give him to you, right?”

He paused at that. “What?” he questioned.

“Yea!” The King of Spades smiled in such a non-Fuyuhiko way that it made the Drifter sick that it was plastered on his face. “I’ve already done my damage to him. You may remove the coding I have on it, but you won’t be able to rid him of the despair of what’s happened to him. And that’s all I want from him: to suffer. So now you can do your part.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the Drifter demanded.

The King of Spades spread his arms out. “Remember this, Wu Ming,” he stated. “Even if your intentions for it mean well, an abused animal will still bite you if you approach.”

The Drifter tossed aside his handcannon once Fuyuhiko teetered forward. “Wait!”

Before he could crash to the floor, the Drifter already had Fuyuhiko in his arms. Immediately, his hands grabbed at fabric and skin, digging it tight like he was a lifeline. Choked sobs were already filling the air as Fuyuhiko buried his face into the Drifter’s shoulder.

The Drifter slowly brought them both to their knees. “Shh, shh,” he tried to comfort him. “It’s okay. Kid, you’re okay now.”

“It hurts so bad,” Fuyuhiko whimpered. “It’s still hurting. I want it to stop.”

“Kid, listen to me.” Fuyuhiko stopped audibly crying but was still shaking. “You’re okay, now. I came here to help you, and that’s what I’m goin’ to do. I’m gettin’ you out of here and somewhere safe alright? I should have done that a long time ago, but...” The Drifter shook his head. “I’m doin’ it now, I guess.”

“Please,” Fuyuhiko begged. “I want to go home.”

The Drifter sagged a bit. “That’s...something I can’t do,” he muttered. “You know that.”

Fuyuhiko sniffled. “I know. But I still want it.”

The Drifter picked up Fuyuhiko gently. Moving him onto his back, he held him in place with one arm. Fuyuhiko let his arms hang over the Drifter’s shoulders, and seemed to fall slack immediately. No more noise came out from him.

“I know,” the Drifter said. “I’m gonna get you to the next best place: somewhere safer than this.” He began to carry the unresponsive Fuyuhiko out. “I can promise you that, at least.”


	26. Prison Breakout: Halfway

There wasn’t any sign saying “back exit” in bright neon letters for the four to see. Thankfully, the device given to them by the Drifter made one for them. In about ten minutes, they somehow navigated out of the prison with minimal trouble, and now stood under a blank violet sky of the digital realm.

“Sweet open ground!” Lance spread his arms out. “I never thought I would be happy to see the weird griddy floor!”

Theodore put his hammer over one shoulder. “Never believed I would miss it, as well,” he agreed. “Though now there’s a problem.”

“And that is?” Jolyon asked.

“Where to now?” Theodore gestured out. “There isn’t a door labeled ‘This way to the Alliance!’, is there?”

“Sort of.” All four of them looked to see the Drifter walk up. “It’s a complicated matter.”

Warlic looked at the unconscious boy on his back. “Fuyuhiko,” he muttered softly. “Is he alright?”

“I hope he will be,” the Drifter responded. “But I think the damage goes beyond the codin’ I can fix, at this point.”

“What’s that mean?” Theodore questioned.

Warlic gestured for him to be quiet, and Theodore did so. “I’m sorry,” he said to the Drifter.

“‘S ain’t yer fault,” the Drifter responded. The charming undertone he usually spoke with was gone for a moment. “It’s mine. I didn’t help him when he needed me to.”

“I mean...” Lance shrugged. “Did you know he needed help? If you’re not told of someone’s issues, it can’t be your fault that you didn’t notice it until it was...you know, too late.” He scratched the back of his neck, glancing to the side at that.

At that, the Drifter sighed a bit. “I should have,” he only stated in return. “I was practically indebted to him, and protectin’ him was supposed to be me returnin’ the favor. I always uphold favors.” He noticed Lance opening his mouth to ask another question, and cut him off with, “Long story short, he saved my life and some others, and the King didn’t take kindly ta it. Put a pretty big target on his back.”

“A kid pissed off the King that badly?” Lance questioned. “Who could the people he had saved been?”

“Then I take it he’s involved with the Incident Unknown Case,” Warlic suddenly said.

Jolyon looked over. “What? You mean when sixteen people disappeared, and nine died? The same case that caused Cayde-6 to be in the coma he’s in now?” His frown deepened, visibly suspended in disbelief. “A  _ kid _ interfered with that?”

“It’s the only event I can think of that would cause the Shadow King to hate Fuyuhiko that badly,” Warlic replied. “His mortal enemy and Light Incarnate Rowan was one of the survivors, after all. Anybody who was involved in their survival would obviously be subject to his wrath.”

Theodore only rolled his eyes. “You’re talking crap, Warlic,” he proclaimed.

“Actually?” The Drifter shrugged, shifting Fuyuhiko’s body a bit. “He’s right on the dot.”

And just like that, all of their jaws except Warlic’s hit the floor. He himself nodded as if approving the conclusion he made.

Lance snapped his mouth close, then opened it a few more times. “That...” He stuttered. “Warlic was right? That kid...Nah, you must be joking, right?”

“You shouldn’t be so engrossed in this conversation.” The Drifter looked at the four. “Still got that device?”

“Of course.” Warlic took it from Lance’s hand and held it out towards the Drifter.

The latter only chuckled a bit. “No, no, you gotta keep it,” he said. “That’s yer ticket ta gettin’ back to the Alliance.”

Warlic looked it over before glancing back up at the Drifter. “Explain,” he requested.

“To me, it’s data I can easily replicate. It’s a navigation’ slash trackin’ tool. Once you’ve gotten the grasp of usin’ it, it’ll be a breeze to go anywhere ya wanna go that you can get to.”

“And that would be?”

“Any electronic currently connected to the grand and wonderful invention of the internet.” The Drifter gave a sly grin. “I’m sure one of you is used to the Alliance technological systems?”

“Then I’ll take that.” Lance nabbed back the device. “I’m pretty sure I’m the one most used to Alliance technology out of the four of us.”

Warlic thought for a moment before proceeding to point out, “But Lynaria presumably got back just fine without such a device. Did she not use her magic?”

Jolyon looked at the Drifter. “Well?” he asked. “Did she?”

“Got out completely fine,” the Drifter confirmed. “I bet her master arrivin’ at the Tower probably helped out matters.”

Warlic seemed to think aloud to himself. “Then can I do the same with Cysero’s significantly unique mana signature...?”

The Drifter chuckled a bit. “Sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t quite catch that. What did you say?”

Warlic suddenly turned away from them. “You guys go on ahead,” he announced. “I’ll catch up when I can.”

Lance gaped once more “Huh?!”

“Wait, what?” Theodore snapped his head to look at Warlic. “You’re staying?”

"Whoa, there, buddy," the Drifter butted in. "I'm pretty sure the deal was that all of you would be leaving safely."

"I will be leaving," Warlic clarified. "Just not yet."

"What do you mean?" Lance questioned. "What's stopping you from coming back to the Alliance with us?"

"You heard the Drifter," Warlic said. "He is unable to rescue the rest of the siblings from the control of the King of Spades. This includes Nagito, who is potentially the only one capable of stopping the production of an infinite army by having control over the Mother Elf."

"Okay, but we're not saving him for a reason," Theodore pointed out. "We don't have the ability to."

"Have we tried?" Warlic asked in response, and Theodore didn't answer. "Drifter, what day is it?"

"Er...Why does it matter?"

"Answer me."

The Drifter blinked. "June 15th," he declared.

"We lost Nagito to the Umbra Mondo on May 4th," Warlic said. "It's only been a month. There could potentially be still time to help him break free."

"Whoa, whoa!" Lance waved his hands. "Whoa whoa whoa. Don't get ahead of yourself. A month certainly sounds like a short time, especially on a cosmic scale of things, but that's more than 30 days. When you think about it, that's a lot of hours!"

"Oh, so you suddenly have expertise in mind control?" Warlic asked.

Lance only blinked. "Yup," he declared. "Seen it myself."

"So have I," Warlic responded. "I hope you know that we cannot correctly compare our experiences to what's happening with Nagito. I know only magical brainwashing, and this is digital." He looked at his staff before continuing. "That being said, I highly doubt that the King of Spades has deleted Nagito's original personality."

"What's your proof?" Jolyon pointed out. "We don't know that for sure."

"Actually, I can bet on it," the Drifter admitted. "The King of Spades is all about havin’ his victims suffer and despair and all that. Quote-on-quote 'killing' Nagito would be a mercy he wouldn't wish on his opponents."

Lance blinked. "Wait," he started. "So, uh...Technically, we can still save him?"

"With the right tools, yes," the Drifter said. "I have some back at my base. But the download sequence is too long, and the files are too big for them to be ported into enemy computers. They'll be detected faster than privileged people buying their way outta prison."

"Which is disturbingly quick," Warlic confirmed. "So what if I take Nagito to your base?"

The Drifter raised a hand to stop him. "Now hold on!" He exclaimed. "I ain't lettin' anybody just waltz into my ship computers, no thank you."

Warlic crossed his arms. "Alright, then. Give me the files."

Theodore stuck an arm between the two. "Hey, come on, now!" He snapped. "Let's be nice, alright? We're on the same side here!" He looked between them. "Or are you guys forgetting that?"

"I ain't on anyone's side," the Drifter quickly spat. "I came here to get my kid and head out. You guys just happened to get free in the process."

Warlic blinked, then smiled. "Sorry," he remarked slyly, "YOUR kid?"

The Drifter suddenly snapped to attention. He noticed all four of them were looking at him, a few having caught it later than others, judging by their suddenly surprised expression. His glare melted away, and he instinctively put a hand on his back to feel Fuyuhiko there.

After a quiet moment, his scowl returned. "Whatever," he growled. "You boys do what you want from this point forward, but it ain't involvin' me."

"You've got a way to save the siblings!" Warlic marched forward, shoving past Theodore. "Wait!"

The Drifter gave a peace sign over his shoulder as he turned away. Fuyuhiko was slightly jostled by the movement but did not stir otherwise. Both of them blinked out of view with an audible sparking noise and a poof of green data particles that quickly faded.

Warlic stumbled a bit as he stopped speedwalking. Behind him, the other three were quiet. He didn't have to look to know that they were looking at him now. Wondering what he was going to say next.

When he did not speak, Lance decided to, instead. "Well?" He asked. "We got no way to save them now. Let's go before they find us!"

Warlic only shook his head. "See you all later," he muttered while putting his staff on one shoulder and beginning to walk back towards the door they came out of.

Lance once more gawked at his back. "Are you serious?!" He questioned. "No, are you INSANE?!"

Jolyon suddenly nudged Lance. "Lance," he whispered. "We've stayed in one place for too long. We really do have to start going."

"But what about our Blue Sage friend?" Theodore asked. "We can't just let him walk back into the hands of the enemy, can we?"

Warlic waved his staff in answer. "I'll find my way back. But they'll be here any second now. If it comes to it, I can buy you time."

Lance looked at the device before admitting, "This will definitely take a few more minutes."

"But why are you staying?" Jolyon asked. "You heard the Drifter: he's got the tools that can save them, but he doesn't want to help them!"

"Who says that's the only tool that can save them?" Warlic shrugged. "I can bring them to Katie Holt. She's good with programming. Or maybe somebody else can do the same. Our options are not just limited to him."

"Well, from what we know, he certainly seems to know a lot about the Cyber Elves!" Theodore quarreled. "There's no point in staying here any longer! We really have to go!"

Warlic only rolled his eyes, as if this entire ordeal was boring to him. "May you tell Uldren that when I return, he should fully expect me to have at least Nagito in tow? Thank you."

"Warlic!" Theodore snapped. "Artix is waiting back for you, too!"

At that, Warlic turned and tilted his head. "What?"

"You think he'll be beating himself up over me? Buddy, it's as you've said! You've been his friend for years now! He's probably sobbing his lungs out over you! You've got every right to come back NOW because you might never have the chance again!" Theodore sputtered for a moment. "What...What if you don't come back with Nagito, huh?! What if the next time we see you, you'll be wholeheartedly killing your former comrades as a Cyber Elf, free will taken away like that!" Theodore snapped his fingers.

"That won't happen," Warlic quietly declared.

"But how can you prove that to us?! Are we just forced to take your word on that?"

Warlic thought for a moment before nodding. "I believe that's the basic gist of it."

"And you're OKAY with that?!"

A small beeping noise occurred from behind Theodore, and as he turned around, Lance cleared his throat. "Calibrated!" He declared. "At least, I think so."

Jolyon put his gun on his back with a sling. "Time to go," he stated while walking over to Lance. "If we don't end up at the Alliance directly, we'll at least put some distance between us and them."

Warlic waved goodbye. "Good luck," he remarked. "I'll be following in a few weeks."

"Warlic!" Theodore snapped, beginning to follow. "I'm not going to let you-"

"Come on, man." Lance placed a hand on Theodore's shoulder, and held on firmly, making him abruptly brake. "The guy's dead set on saving Nagito. Just let it happen, we need to go."

"You'll let him get torn apart in there?" Theodore questioned.

"We don't have time to bicker!" Jolyon hissed, grabbing Theodore as well. "Lance, get us out of here." He then yelled in a louder tone, "Come back safe, Warlic!"

"I will!" Warlic shouted back, not breaking his stride. "You can count on it!"

"Warlic! WARLIC, GET BACK HERE!" Theodore began to squirm as all three of them fizzed green. "WARLIC, NO!"

Despite his screams of rage turning into worried begging, Jolyon and Lance did not let him go, and Warlic did not stop walking back the way they came. The three disappeared in flashes of green, teleporting away to a safer place.

Back inside, Warlic took the staff off of his shoulder the moment he laid his eyes on the closest Cyber Elf to him. He didn't let them react properly before he began to swing true.


	27. Prison Breakout: Ending

_ "About two hundred Cyber Elves killed, four prisoners lost, and you let Fuyuhiko go. Why?" _

"More of our soldiers would have died." Yukio imagined himself turning away in the corners of his mind, though his voice tremored. "And with the sudden breakout, we could have potentially lost our source for making the soldiers. I made the best decision at that moment, to get Wu Ming off our backs."

_ "You took pity on him," _ she snarled.  _ "Again." _

"No, please, we had done enough damage to last-" Yukio began to explain himself.

The pain came like a rocket to the back of his skull. He shrieked, both internally and externally. He collapsed straight onto the floor of the tiny room simulated within the digital environment.

_ "There is a difference," _ she started,  _ "Between a scar and an open wound. You keep the wound bleeding, you got people eating out of the palm of your hand for the life support they need to survive. A scar is a symbol of survival. It would fuel their determination, their hope. I want an infected, sizzling pus clump on Fuyuhiko Weil, not some cool little healed knick on the heart." _

"I'm sorry," Yukio begged. "I'm sorry to disobey you."

Her mood turned chipper.  _ "That's a-okay!" _ She beamed in his mind, a poisonous smile threatening to split his mind in two.  _ "I already have found a reason to forgive you." _

Yukio slowly lifted his head. "You...have?"

_ "The data that makes him our puppet is still active. Take back control of Fuyuhiko and kill Wu Ming with him. And I don't want another 'failure' instead of his head on a pike." _

With a hard swallow, Yukio pulled the rest of his body onto his feet. "Yes, milady," he choked.

_ "Good!" _ She chimed cheerfully.  _ "You don't want me to have to intervene AGAIN, do you?" _

Yukio couldn't help but think about the last time he failed. How for three hours, all he saw was darkness, and no matter how little he moved, the pain just wouldn't stop paralyzing him and forcing scream after scream out of his throat. He begged for forgiveness and cursed Wu Ming for dooming him to this. At least when you want to kill someone, you should make sure to do the job.

"I do not," he said.

_ "Good. Now, get out there, trigger any hostility measures in Fuyuhiko, and let's go find those missing four prisoners. They're our VIPs, you know!" _

Yukio did not answer her verbally. He only turned to open up an interface. With a few taps, he had taken over Fuyuhiko once more.

Immediately, he could feel a different presence trying to push him out. A coding hostile to his own within the Cyber Elf. It would probably easily wipe out his data if it were dormant. But active was a different story. Within seconds, it was overloaded and pushed back out.

A certain stream of input was registered. The King of Spades translated it as stress. Fuyuhiko consciously knew what was happening. Freaking out, no doubt. He would pity him, but he didn't want the pain anymore, just like Fuyuhiko.

With a few bits of coding added, and the 'enter' key pressed, Fuyuhiko became a hostile AI once more. He locked onto an organic target immediately. The coding did not tell whether he had struck successfully or not. Only when the target was confirmed dead.

Then a staff hit the back of the King of Spades’ head. He blacked out immediately, and the interface collapsed.

Warlic stood over the King of Spades’ crumpled body. He lowered his staff, looking down at the unconscious finger. He slowly tapped him with the butt of his weapon twice. When he didn't get any kind of response, Warlic turned away from him.

The room they stood in held a digital imitation of interactive consoles. Warlic walked up to one such console and stared at the screen for a moment. To him, he knew magical runes. He didn’t know how to code.

Deciding to try something, Warlic pulled up a tab and typed in his name: 'Warlic'. He didn't know what to expect as he hit enter.

A file popped up about two seconds later. It looked to be a file for 'Prisoner 0000009356821: Warlic [LAST NAME]'.

Warlic did not know how to feel about the number being so long. How long has this kidnapping and conversion business been going on? Long enough to be shut down for good, not to let it continue through inaction.

**_Prisoner 0000009356821: Warlic [LAST NAME]_ **

**_Age:_ ** _??? _

**_Alias:_ ** _ The Blue Mage _

**_Date Sentenced:_ ** _ May 4th, 621 P.C. _

**_Conversion Set Date:_ ** _ June 16th, 621 P.C. _

Before continuing, Warlic glanced at the laptop date. June 15th, close to midnight. He was that close. He shook his head before continuing to read.

**_Notes:_ ** _ Powerful mage, Class 10 restrictive coding placed within data _

Warlic looked at his hand, straightening up. He had been subconsciously leaning closer to the screen, putting his weight on the console this whole time. He extended his fingers and willed forward his magic as much as possible. A quick spark flew off his fingertips, followed by another. But there was no more.

He’s read enough. Closing the tab, he decided to look up ‘Class 10 Restrictive Coding’ and pressed enter once more. This time, a differently-structured informative file popped up, one that looked much different from a prison file.

**_Restrictive Coding Levels_ **

**_Class 1:_ ** _ For prisoners logged as ‘Tier Baldur’ _

**_Class 2:_ ** _ For prisoners logged as ‘Tier Bil’ _ **_  
_ ** **_Class 3:_ ** _ For prisoners logged as ‘Tier Dellingr’ _

**_Class 4:_ ** _ For prisoners logged as ‘Tier Vili’ _

**_Class 5:_ ** _ For prisoners logged as ‘Tier Vor’ _

**_Class 6:_ ** _ For prisoners logged as ‘Tier Tyr’ _

**_Class 7:_ ** _ For prisoners logged as ‘Tier Bragi’ _

**_Class 8:_ ** _ For prisoners logged as ‘Tier Thor’ _

**_Class 9:_ ** _ For prisoners logged as ‘Tier Loki’ _

**_Class 10:_ ** _ For prisoners logged as ‘Tier Odin’ _

“Norse gods,” Warlic commented. “Fitting, given the Germanic background of many people within the Umbra Mondo.” He then looked it over again. “I’m wondering if I should feel complimented that I am considered one of the most dangerous prisoners.”

“That’s why it’s referred to as ‘Odin Tier’, sir.” Behind Warlic, a shadow rose. “Odin was the Allfather of the Norse gods, so as the most authoritative, he should be considered the most dangerous. Like you.”   
  


Warlic thought the King of Spades had recovered and had gotten up. He took his staff from laying it by his side and swung behind him. He stopped himself partially, freezing up the moment he saw the youthful face and smile.

“Hello, Warlic sir!” Nagito chimed, keeping his feet barely touching the ground while hovering. “I heard that you’ve been causing a ruckus.”

He looked to be wearing a grunge-themed outfit, with a large black jacket. The school uniform with a warm-hued sweater was gone, replaced by black leggings and pointed purple boots. If Warlic didn’t recognize the white hair, he would have certainly considered him as a whole other person.

Nagito tilted his head, still smiling. “What’s wrong, Warlic sir? It’s me, Nagito Weil.” He cleared his throat. “Though my real last name is a lot more different.”

Warlic must have had an expression of surprise. Quickly, he visually collected himself. “Then what is your last name?” he asked as calmly as possible.

“My name is Nagito Komaeda. For now, I serve the Shadow King, until my goals bring me to a different allegiance.”

“Your goals are separate from the king?” Warlic frowned at this.

“He’s not exactly under MY possession, like his siblings,” a grumble spoke up from the floor. Warlic glanced to see the King of Spades sitting up on one hand, rubbing his noggin with the other. “It seems that when he unlocked the Mother Elf, he unlocked a portion of himself that had been sealed away by it.”

Warlic nodded. “Right,” he murmured. “I was there to see it personally.”

“Well, he serves us for now!” With a flash, the King of Spades was back upright on his feet. “So I’m not complaining about what his motives are for now. And neither is the Shadow King.”

“I can think of a few people who are less than happy about this,” Warlic pointed out, raising his staff again.

Upon seeing this, Nagito gave a short, wheezing laugh. It could have been a trick of the light, but Warlic could visibly see the natural light in Nagito’s eyes die out for a second. Illusion or not, it sent a chill down Warlic’s spine. He did his best to not visibly shudder.

“I’m sorry,” Nagito apologized. “I find that I cannot take you seriously. Your powers have been stripped away by the restrictive coding. In fact...” He raised two fingers and snapped them together.

A rather weird feeling coursed through Warlic’s body. The kind that a fizzy drink would make you feel, but instead of located only in the stomach he could feel it all across his body. He paused for a moment, noting quite unfortunately that he’s lost all feeling in his body.

His vision went black, and his consciousness faded. He felt himself fall forward, the wind tossing his hair back. The staff slipped out of his hand, the last safety net he had.

When he was jostled awake, held back by something wrapping around him, his face was inches from the ground. He involuntarily gasped, seeing locks of white brush against the imitation of white tile.

He lifted his head to see purple manacles all over his body, gripping everything connected to a joint. All of them were connected to chains collected into one point in the air floating behind him. Add when he glanced over, he could see Nagito’s hand extended and unfolded, pointing towards that general direction.

He began to squirm and struggle as the King of Spades picked up the dropped staff, twirling it a few times. “So you met him in person,” he guessed. “Unbiased opinion, the third party between me and him: what did you get from the first impression of him, huh? Trustworthy? Shady?”

“Certainly more trustworthy than you,” Warlic remarked coolly as the chains yanked, pulling him back up onto his feet.

“Heeeey, I said no bias!”   
  


“You said nothing about comparison.”

Nagito sighed, waving his other hand. “You two really do bicker,” he remarked. “So boring.”

“He started it.” The King of Spades pouted at Nagito before waving his own in the same manner. “Just take him to a better cell. His conversion is tomorrow.”

Nagito gave a lazy salute. “Of course,” he said.

Warlic looked over at the King of Spades as he began to get tugged away. “You will do nothing to prepare for when Naito inevitably betrays you?” he questioned. “Not even figuring out what goals he has?”

“Oh, please,  _ pajama boy _ ,” the King of Spades said, and Warlic paused, taking in a small breath. “I already know his goals. Make hope out of despair. I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it, alright? Now get ‘im outta here, I need to check up on something.”

The King of Spades waited until the door was slammed behind Nagito and the prisoner before he gave a long sigh, shoulders sinking almost immediately. He tossed away the staff, and it crackled before exploding into red particles, deleted by malicious data.

He’s been away from monitoring a minute too long. He reached out, ready to pull up an interface on Fuyuhiko’s whereabouts. He knew better than to just assume Wu Ming was dead. Not only was he a Guardian, but he was also a liar and deceiver by nature.

Instead of an interface pulling up, no connection was able to be made. Frowning, the King of Spades tried again. The coding he’s implanted in Fuyuhiko suddenly wasn’t available. Dormant, or...

Instead of an error notification, all he got was a single message. Only one sentence, but it struck a sudden fear into Yukio’s heart, and made Junko’s blood boil.

_ “You thought I was stupid enough to expect you to give up the kid quietly?” _


	28. Battle of the Moon: Beginning

As Allura was putting on her armor in the small changing room, she could hear the discussion outside. By now, she’s become perfectly fluent in the language of the people she leads as Kell of Kells. Hesitating in placing on one glove, she held her breath to listen past the closed door.

<“They are exterminating the Hive within the Hellmouth as well?”> Mithrax was asking somebody.

A different Eliksni replied, <“They are trying. But scouts on the Moon were saying that the Hellmouth inhabitants drove off the attackers, though not without heavy casualties. That was many hours ago, and we have not heard from them since.”>

<“They very quickly regretted their decision, yes?”> Variks chortled, most likely an attempt to lighten the mood.

The conversation fell silent. That attempt failed. Allura lingered in the changing room, watching the door and waiting for failed words to be picked back up again. When that did not happen, she sighed under her breath, finishing with pulling on her boots before grabbing her bayard and swinging the door open.

As the Eliksni waited outside turned to her, she began to give her orders with, <“I want all Servitors, Prime or not, to be heavily guarded once we arrive on the Moon. Put the Dregs on the front lines, and initiate squadrons with Captains.”>

Mithrax bowed towards her. <“Yes, my Kell,”> he rumbled.

Allura gestured her staff to the side, down the hall of the Tower. Immediately, the Eliksni began moving down it, towards the hangar, to board the readied transport ships. Allura watched them go for a moment before beginning to follow afterward.

Right behind her were her two closest Eliksni companions. Variks stood on her left, Mithrax on her right. Both of them wore the pure white colors of the House of World Life on their armor proudly.

Variks inched closer to her as they walked. "Will you use the ancient sorcery of your race to aid us?" He questioned her.

Allura glanced over. "You mean Altean alchemy?" When Variks nodded, she returned the motion. "I will use everything in my power to keep the Moon under Alliance control," she clarified. "We lost Mars." She stopped walking for a second. "We lost...Shiro."

She couldn't control her frown showing. And when she glanced over, she could see a few Eliksni giving her sympathetic looks. For a few seconds, everyone in the hallway faltered in their grit.

But morale had to be kept, and Allura quickly moved to recover the moment. "But here is where our failures end," she clarified to all English listeners.

A slow nod from Mithrax confirmed to her. <“For the Eliksni,”> he stated.

They all went silent as they filed out into the hangar. Some of their fellow members in the House of World Life were already boarding the transport ships set up for them. Assuming the flight will go well, by this afternoon, they’ll be landing on the Moon to help the already-stationed Guardians there with the Cyber Elves attacking their established strongholds.

As she walked towards the closest ship, a hand reached out to her wrist, but then pulled back, as if they decided against it. Allura paused and looked over her shoulder. She and Amanda were separated by a workbench that the latter had reached her arm across, but was now reeling back a bit.

Allura reached out herself, holding Amanda’s hand. “You’re worried for us, aren’t you?”

Amanda took a second before answering, “Not just for you. For everyone.” Allura let go of her arm, and it dropped to her side. “Morale around the Tower has been so low lately that it’s starting to get to me. Everyone looks tired nowadays, even Zavala.”

“And I doubt hearing that Hoshido and Nohr have been conquered in a matter of days has done wonders for his stress,” Allura agreed.

“It’s so...bizarre,” Amanda admitted. “Fox just had Queen Hinoka, King Xander, and all of the other available heirs to the Nohrian throne except Elise killed and slammed down the missin’ Hoshidan princess, or a Reploid replica of her, on both of their thrones. And ‘cause of the geological standpoint and Hoshido’s technology and aerial defenses, we’ve been cut off completely from Valla as well.” She sighed. “We lost three of our most powerful allies in just...what, four...five days?”

“It’s obvious they’re aiming for the more powerful territories to conquer,” Allura pointed out. “But they might be creating their own drawback: they can get cocky.”

“Ain’t no use in pointin’ that out when you can’t even exploit it,” Amanda retorted. “They’ve got the moxie to back up the cockiness.” She paused before admitting, “There’s one good thing I can think of. Leo’s up there with Takumi now.” She pointed up into the air.

“Do you really think they were able to kill Leo?” Allura questioned. “Xander sent away Elise and his son Siegfried in time. What’s to say that Leo got out as well?”

“They confirmed the deaths,” Amanda snarked. “Waved around their mutilated heads on pikes.” She shivered before adding, “Way to hack into national broadcasts to show  _ that _ .”

“Yes, but...” Allura shook her head.

Amanda sighed. “We all saw it, ‘Lura,” she said. “You saw Leo. We all identified him.”

Allura retorted, “It’s not always that simple. Perhaps it could have just been...”

A cry in Eliksni cut her thoughts off. Allura stopped talking and looked over at the readied ships. Almost everyone was completely boarded now. Mithrax was standing on the lowered platform, holding onto one of the rungs on the side. With two of his hands, he was waving at her to follow him inside the spacecraft.

“Sorry,” Allura bluntly apologized. “It’s time to go.”

“Hey, you come back now, you hear?” Amanda frowned. “I doubt Lance would want to wake up to find that you went and died again.”

“Again?” Allura huffed. “I didn’t exactly die the first time...”

“Whatever.”

“Oh, right,” Allura suddenly stated. “Thank you for volunteering to watch Silkris until I returned. You didn’t have to do that.”

“We all know Silky prefers humanoids over his own species. Brood mothers wouldn’t know what to do with the lil’ bugger.” Amanda suddenly pulled out two somethings from a drawer on the workbench, using her hip to slide it closed again. “Good luck out there.” She tossed them up in her hand once before underhanding them to Allura.

The Altean caught them and looked at the tinfoil-textured wrapping. “What is this?” she questioned.

“The one in your left hand is vanilla pound cake,” Amanda replied. “With some glaze packets for extra flavorin’. Eat two slices every day, it’ll last you a week. The other’s pan de campo: Texas camp bread. Sweet and soft on the inside, best with chili.” She then giggled a bit. “The military rations procured by the Alliance chefs are somethin’ to shy away from, so hopefully, those will get you back home with the right amount of skin and muscle on your bones.”

Allura couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you, Amanda.” She began to hurry away towards the ship. “Watch Lance for me!”

“I will!” Amanda’s voice grew fainter as Allura ran into the ship already running its engines.

Once the doors closed behind her, a sudden queasy feeling passed through her. She could feel the ship begin to lift off under her feet, and she grabbed the nearest pole to steady herself. She tried to rub the aching away by placing a hand on her forehead, but her mind, once it began racing, would not stop.

With everything that’s happened, she couldn’t help but think. Some, if not all of them, could potentially not return to the Alliance. They could die in battle, away from any loved ones they left behind to go onto the battlefield. That’s a rather terrifying thought, especially in her situation.

It’s been too long since she’s seen Altea or even her aide Coran. There was the year she was believed dead before returning after being found by the Lions. And then they all were whisked away during the celebration of her return. That was almost two years ago. Not a single breakthrough in getting back has been discovered yet, or some people don’t even care about finding their corner of the universe.

No. This wasn’t something to be thinking about. Allura shook her head as if to physically remove these thoughts from her head. Sitting down to the side, she kept a hand on her bayard and began to wait.

She didn’t have to hold her breath for long. After a couple of hours of peaceful flight, she could hear faint explosions. Immediately, her head whipped to look out of the closest window on the ship to see what was happening.

In the sky of the Moon, she could see multiple ships fly by. Some, she recognized as those belonging to Guardians. Others looked to be from the Umbra Mondo, judging by the purple and black coloring. Both sides were occasionally engulfed in big balls of fire from gunfire from their aerial rivals, and metal remains fell to the Moon’s surface.

Allura stood up as the ship creaked. One Eliksni went to the side and pressed a button. The flap in the back creaked open, and the sudden wind began to whip throughout the ship. Looks like landing in a normal way was off the menu.

<“There are too many aerial defenses!”> somebody called out. <“We will need to drop from here!”>

Allura looked over her shoulder at her troops. <“You heard them!”> She called. <“Drop! Go, go, go!”> She pointed towards the opened hatch.

The Eliksni began to leap out into the open air. All of them had packs on their backs when, once opened, jettisoned out a parachute to float them down safely.

While Variks was quick to leap out of sight, when Allura began to approach the opening, Mithrax looked at her. “You have no parachute!” he called out to her.

“I do not need it!” She called back. “I prefer the faster way down!”

“Plummeting to your-?!”

Mithrax probably finished the sentence with ‘doom’, but Allura did not linger to listen. She checked to see an Umbra Mondo aircraft zooming in from the right, then leaped out. She pulled out her bayard mid-leap, and flicked out the whip, arching a brilliant white-blue through the dark sky.

The aircraft whizzed by, though the Umbrati inside the cockpit took a quick glimpse to see the sudden source of light out of his peripheral vision. He then looked away to continue flying, only to quickly snap his head again to see the whip coiled around his left wing and Allura on top of it.

Allura flicked her bayard, and it changed in the air as she brought it down onto the windshield of the ship. The glaive formed just before it struck down, and smashed almost all of the glass in a brilliant cacophony. As the pilot recoiled from the sudden attack, she reached in with her free hand and proceeded to pull them out, throwing them out and towards their doom of being splattered against the rocks of the Moon.

Hopping into the pilot’s seat herself, and sitting awkwardly to not place herself on the glass shards now covering the seat, Allura found that the controls were not too alien to her. Understanding the basic controls, she yanked them downwards to tilt the nose towards what she could see was a large congregation of the enemy on the ground and ramped up the speed.

Once the ship was in freefall, she hopped right back out of the cockpit. Taking out her whip once more, she threw it out towards the side and watched it coil twice around a rocky stalagmite before leaping off. She did not look at the ensuing explosion the crash made as her body slammed against the stalagmite, knocking the breath out of her for a moment. However, as she looked towards it once recovering from the impact, she could see both shadowy mist and data particles flying up from it as adjacent enemies raced around in a panic trying to stamp out the lingerie remnants of the fiery mess.

Bullets ripped through the nearby rocks, and Allura had her whip release the rock formation. She dropped onto her feet on the ground, and slammed her shield onto the ground, crouching behind it. Another round of gunfire tried to pierce through the blue structure of it, to no avail.

Allura’s bayard turned into a pulse rifle, and she placed it on top of the shield and fired randomly. Once she had burned through the current amount of ammo, she pulled it back to let it recharge and waited. When no bullets returned, she assumed that she had hit the attacker and stood up, still keeping the shield covering her vitals.

A soft ‘fwump!’ occurred next to her, and she looked over. A cloth parachute entirely covered a large mass, which wriggled underneath. Allura reached a hand out and whipped it off, looking at Variks underneath.

Variks looked at her. “Hello, my Kell-” He cut himself off. “My Kell?” He looked her over, blinking rapidly. “How did you get on the surface before I did? I jumped out before you.”

“I didn’t use a parachute.” Allura pointed out the white pile on the ground. “I used gravity and some unlucky Umbrati’s ship.”

Variks sighed slowly as if he had anticipated this. “This is how you will die one day, my Kell,” he commented. “Doing borderline daredevil actions with a much safer alternative before you. Are you not a princess? Why do you do this?”

“What can I say? I learned from the Paladins during my previous fieldwork.” Allura looked around. “But you would have been promptly gunned down had I not landed here first and dispatched all present enemies.”

“Do not say that,” Variks replied. “It would only be encouraging these bad habits of yours.”

“Well?” Twirling her bayard as it shifted back into its glaive form, she placed it over one shoulder. “What’s the situation? You had much more time to observe in the air than I did.”

“Well, if you had stayed with the rest of us, you would have been able to see where the Guardians have set up emergency outposts meant to hold the line.” Variks pointed off in a certain direction. “Over that way, currently besieged by a bastion from the enemy.”

“Then we should get a move on.” Allura began to run. “No point in staying here.”

Variks shook his head, beginning to follow closely behind. “You are certainly an underestimated one at times, my Kell.”


	29. Battle of the Moon: Halfway

The King of Spades was walking back and forth in the simulated room, hands behind his back as he stared at his feet. He looked over at the fireplace. It looked real enough, but it emanated no warmth. Temperature did not exist in the datascape. Then, he looked up at the ivory clock hanging just above the fireplace on the wall. It was past midnight, past the scheduled meeting time.

The door into the room opened slightly. “Sir?” Akane’s voice filtered through. “May I come in?”

“Akane?” The King of Spades tilted his head at her. “Wrapped up the business on the Moon already?”

“More like a small break from it.” Akane entered the rest of the way, closing the door behind her. “A large section of the House of World Life arrived to aid the Guardians just when we almost had them.”

“Ouch,” he remarked. “Well, how’s it going now? Still have it under control?” He then frowned. “Or did you come here to ask me to send along one of your siblings to help you out?”

“Well,” Akane began to admit. “With the reinforcements, they’re putting up a much better fight than we anticipated. Not only that, but their leaders are very coordinated.”

The King of Spades tapped his chin before saying, “You mean the Kell of Kells Allura, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hmm...” After a moment, the King of Spades shrugged. “I’ll see what I can say to the Shadow King.”

The area rippled, and a voice emanated. “King of Spades.”

“Speaking of!” He looked over to see the Shadow King. “You’re kind of late,” he commented. “I was thinking of leaving.”

The King looked around in the velvet room covered with bookshelves, plush chairs, and a fancy circular rug. “What was the point of creating such an environment like this?” he wondered aloud.

“Homeliness,” the King of Spades admitted. “Akane, can you excuse us? We’re going to have a man-to-man conversation. Keep the Eliksni and Guardians busy while I think of a solution to your troubles.”

“Er...” Akane bowed. “Yes, sir.” She turned and once more stepped through the doorway.

Once she left, the Shadow King slightly bowed. “I apologize for running so late,” he said. “I had been faced with a few dilemmas about chasing down the leader of Insurrection’s Abyss. She and some of her soldiers were not accounted for when we took over their main base.”

The King of Spades made a chitchat motion with his hand. “Yea, yea. So tell me, what’s this talk about?”

“Do you know what today is?”

The King of Spades frowned, then quickly checked. “June 20th,” he answered. “Why’s that?”

“I expected a certain Tier Odin prisoner to be converted into a Cyber Elf four days ago,” the Shadow King pointed out. “Did you lose him within the recent prison riot?”

The King of Spades laughed. “No, I assure you, my head honcho man. Only a Tier Tyr and two Tier Dellingrs escaped. The Tier Odin prisoner is securely locked up within the datascape, where he should be.”

“Then why do I not have him?”

The King of Spades sighed. “Honestly, ‘cause of Nagito,” he admitted. “He told me that he had an idea that would be far better than just simply converting the Tier Odin into a soldier. And I wasn’t in the mood to argue against him, due to all of my time being taken up by trying to find where Wu Ming ran off to with Fuyuhiko.”

The Shadow King chuckled. “Underestimated him, didn’t you?” he mocked. “You should have known somebody as sly as him would have wormed his way out of your trap with what he wanted. He certainly infiltrated my ranks without breaking much sweat over it.”

The King of Spades gave a bitter-sounding laugh in response. “You’re such a funny guy!” he snarked.

“Well,” the Shadow King rolled his eyes. “Just be careful with the Tier Odin. I know that if you aren’t, you could very well doom the entire operation.”

“He’s got Class 10 restrictive coding on him, it’ll be fine,” the King of Spades groaned. “You’re not my father.”

“Remember your place, King,” the Shadow King growled. “You are still a meager pawn to me.”

“A very devoted one, I assure ya,” the King of Spades replied dismissively. “Don’t worry your head off about me and my business, okay? I got our wild card under control.”

“You said the same for Fuyuhiko, and now we can’t find him,” the Shadow King pointed out.

The King of Spades flinched. “Ouch. Low blow there, buddy.”

The Shadow King looked at the door. “What was your discussion with Akane entailing, may I ask?”

“Oh, just some unforeseen complications on the Moon-conquering business,” the King of Spades replied. “Nothing to be worried about. Though now I have to figure out whether I should send in another Weil sibling to help quiet those fuckers down, or-”

“Or power up the one you’ve already sent in,” the Shadow King finished. “In fact, why not give new powers to  _ all _ of them? I mean, they are still the children that Dr. Weil created. You’ve yet to turn them into true weapons of war.”

For a moment, the King of Spades tapped his chin with one finger, the other hand on his hip. “You know,” he slowly drawled out. “That isn’t half that bad of an idea. I mean, you’ve already kickstarted my brain on what to do.”

“That’s more like it.” The Shadow King chucked. “Take a second and admire how far you’ve come. One second, just a mere voice in somebody’s head. The next, an unstoppable monster of a man.”

The King of Spades paused, and slowly dropped the hand on his face. “Monster?” he questioned.

“Yes. A powerful, beautiful freak of nature.” The Shadow King strode closer to him. “You may be technically the youngest out of all of my loyal subordinates, but you could very well be the key to undermining the entire Alliance, simply by knowing who they truly are.”

He then chuckled as the King of Spades opened his mouth to speak. “How do I know you’re loyal to me?” The King of Spades clenched his mouth shut immediately, recoiling at the statement and looking suddenly nervous. “Simple. Because I know who your mistress is. Our goals align. What would be the point in betraying me when all I can do is help you? And sure, you might try to kill me down the line.” He then tilted his head. “Funny. When I say that out loud, I fail to see how you and Nagito are different, Yukio.”

Yukio looked away. “I get it,” he murmured.

“I don’t think you do. While you have turned your back, I’ve been communicating with your mistress.”

“Wh-What?” Yukio stammered, suddenly tensing up.

“I think she and I both know what your thought process is. How you still have that ideology of ‘hope’, but not in the way the Alliance hopes for victory against us. You hope for compassion, for somebody to care for you.” The Shadow King grabbed Yukio’s chin forcefully. “It will never happen. The world known to you, the one you have ‘grown up’ in, sees you as a criminal that needs to be eliminated. Actions beyond your control, but done with your body and voice by your mistress, have painted you as the perpetrator while she frolics away, free of charge.”

Yukio said nothing, shaking a bit. The Shadow King slowly let go of his chin, turning away from him. As he did so, a soft whimper could be heard. If Yukio was of flesh and blood, he would be crying right now. But he wasn’t. He was just a tool of data that could be reprogrammed and remolded if the Shadow King wanted to do so.

“Tread carefully,” he said. “For I am your last bastion of safety. But until your inevitable betrayal, your goals of despair are always welcome within my realm, Junko.”

Like a light, the King of Spades’ mood changed, and he smiled and waved goodbye to the Shadow King’s retreating form. “Thank youuuu~!” He giggled. “He’s right, you know. Now, onto more important business that does not involve weeping like a little bitch.”

He moved to exit the room through the same door that Akane took. “Let’s go round up all of the gang, shall we? I got a few ideas that fit the bill on what Akane wanted!”


	30. Battle of the Moon: Ending

Inside Outpost C, Guardian and Eliksni alike were taking in what time of relaxation they could. The fighting has been long and hard, with no end in sight. But now, the worst seems to have passed, allowing them to unwind as best as possible while still sleeping with one eye open.

Allura was sitting at a table with another Guardian. She had recognized them as Artix von Krieger’s Hunter student Eagle-12. She had invited her over for a quick snack break and a game of cards. While Allura had been content with sitting by herself, who was she to deny such a polite invite?

However, she could tell that something was amiss in the other’s mood. Eagle’s structure did not allow her to give the impression of a forced smile, so to say, but the way she spoke seemed to imply an air of discomfort. Maybe she had just wanted somebody to be with her instead of sitting by herself.

Right now, they were playing what Eagle called “war”. Allura was sipping a rather bitter drink of alcohol to try and shake her out of the half-asleep limbo she has found herself trapped in. Meanwhile, Eagle was shuffling the cards, placing them into two even decks.

Out of a desire to end the awkwardness between them, Allura asked, “How long have you been stationed here?”

“Past two weeks,” Eagle answered. “Since June 5th.”

“June 21st,” Allura replied. “So it has been quite a while. You’ve been hearing what’s been happening, right?”

“News travels quickly along the outpost line,” Eagle answered. “Gossiping is the only thing we can do out here.” She then withdrew her hands from the two card stacks she’s placed facedown. “Left or right?”

Allura stared over the rim of her glass for a moment before deciding, “Right.”

With her left hand, Eagle slid over the pile to Allura’s right before taking the left pile for herself. “What’s it like back at the Alliance?”

“Awkward,” Allura admitted. “Morale is at an all-time low, you can say. Everybody is walking around with a visible cloud over their heads.” She placed down the first card she had, a five of spades.

Eagle slapped down a two of diamonds from her deck. “And how are the people still knocked out? Heard one of them’s woken up.”

“Yes, Lynaria,” Allura confirmed, taking both cards and placing them in her stock. “After the fight at Mount Doomskull, Drakath, the Champion of Chaos, approached the Alliance council.” She put down a queen of diamonds. “He said that he wishes to join us, but not publicly. A few select members were upset at this idea, but this is war. We need all the help we can get.” She then chuckled a bit as Eagle put down a four of clubs, and took both cards. “He’s currently an emergency council member to keep the numbers odd, now that the representatives of Nohr, Hoshido, and Valla are...” She hesitated before saying slowly, “unavailable.”

“Valla got beat up by the Umbra Mondo as well?” Eagle asked, placing down a king of clubs.

When Allura put down a three of hearts, Eagle took both cards. “No,” she clarified. “But the only way to reach Valla is going through Nohr and Hoshido.” She placed down a seven of hearts. “With relay communications cut and aerial defenses strong, we just can’t physically or digitally reach Valla, and it’s the same vice versa.”

“Ouch.” Eagle set down a four of spades, and let Allura take both cards. “Man, you’re on a roll at this. Did I give you all the good cards by accident?”

Allura laughed a bit before shaking her head. “I guess you did,” she replied. “It isn’t my fault, however.”

Eagle rolled her eyes and threw down another card, a joker of clubs. “What about the other four?”

Ah. That was it. Allura hesitated in placing down her card. Then, she slowly set down a king of spades. “Theodore has yet to wake up if that is what you’re chasing after.”

Eagle stared silently at the two cards laying there. Initially, Allura thought that she was waiting for her to pick them up and add them to her deck. However, when she continued to hesitate, Eagle did not say anything. It was like that she had completely forgotten where she was, or what she was doing, instead dedicating her thought process entirely to whatever was going on in her mind currently.

“Eagle?” Allura asked.

She snapped back to reality, lifting her head with a faint buzzing noise coming from the back of her glowing throat. “Huh? Sorry,” she quickly apologized as Allura took both cards. “I’ve just been...”

“Worried about him?” Allura guessed. “I understand.”

“It’s hard to focus on the here and now,” Eagle suddenly muttered with no previous signal, and Allura quieted to let her talk. “Teach hasn’t been looking too good recently. Green around the gills, I mean.” She leaned against the table with one arm. “I think he’s scared for both me and Theo.”

“After what happened to Jadir, I can see why,” Allura stated without thinking. She didn’t look up from the table, but she could hear the sudden silence from Eagle and cleared her throat rather awkwardly. “Sorry,” she muttered. “Wrong thing to say?”

“No,” Eagle replied. “In fact, you’re probably right on the marker.”

Neither of them made the next move in the game. Both of them seemed to have completely forgotten about it, whisked back to the unnerving thoughts of the reality brewing around them.

Then the explosions came. The entire room was rattled to the core as a shockwave ripped through the walls and furniture. While some stood up, others dove below tables and chairs to take cover. Parts of the ceiling collapsed as fire consumed many of their visions.

Allura immediately grabbed the chair she was sitting in and threw it. To her luck, it slammed right into an Umbrati stepping over the rubble that once was a poorly-constructed wall. They teetered back and dragged down the soldier behind them as they fell to the ground, dazed from the impact.

Eagle grabbed her gun from leaning against the chair and opened fire on the intruders. She was quickly joined by Allura shifting her bayard into a pulse rifle and doing the same. The sound became almost deafening to those still pulling themselves and their weapons together to charge into the fastly-made fray.

Allura noticed something arc through the air towards them. She grabbed the table they both stood by and flipped it onto its side. Drinks shattered on the ground and cards scattered across the floor as Allura pulled Eagle behind the wooden cover, pushing her to the ground before following.

The ground flew up in the air from the explosion. Dirt rained down on both girls, but neither of them were hurt. Allura poked up to see the other Guardians having gathered themselves up enough to join in the fight, charging through the manmade hole and attacking the Elves and Umbrati with either their bare fists or various melee weapons.

Allura stood up, hopping over the overturned table and running after them. Pointing her gun around, she quickly gunned down any approaching enemies from the sides to give the more unwary allies some much-needed cover.

Eagle was close behind, keeping her gun up and firing. Their backs were practically to each other as a fire itself coursed through the air. The murmur of the tense peace had been broken by screams of war and pain reverberating all across Outpost C.

Allura looked around. She could count in the crowd many of the Eliksni that she recognized. However, she did a quick double-check to confirm something for herself. When she did so, she proceeded to break off to the side, dipping out and heading back inside through a half-broken door.

Eagle noticed this and looked to see her go. “What?” She called. “Allura, wait! Where are you going?”

“To find Mithrax!” Allura answered over her shoulder. “I can’t see him anywhere!”

Eagle began to follow afterward, then paused. Looking back, she could see multiple Guardians struggling with their opponents. Leaving them would certainly allow more than necessary to perish. And Allura was already gone, having vanished from her line of vision.

Lingering a moment more where she stood, Eagle let out a muttered, “Shit.” Then, she turned and ran back into the fray, gunning down a particular Umbrati about to stab a pinned Guardian in the throat before helping their would-be victim back onto their feet. With a quick, silent nod of thanks exchanged between them, they went their separate ways on the battlefield.

Back inside the half-deserted outpost, Allura was ducking and weaving down rudimentary hallways dug partially into the rocky earth of the Moon. All around her, she could feel the walls rumble and hear guns go off in quick succession. In mere minutes, everything had dissolved into bloodshed and chaos. She needed to find Mithrax and Variks, and make sure that they were okay, as soon as possible.

A wall to her left exploded, and she ducked to avoid any flying shrapnel. She noticed somebody running in towards her, and quickly moved to the right to avoid the white and red moving blur. They whizzed by her and skidded to a stop about fifteen feet down the hall to turn back towards her.

For a second, Allura did not recognize the figure. Then, once she got a better look, she had to stifle a gasp. Her skin was chalk white, with a red diamond covering her right eye. Her entire outfit was a set of silver, dulled armor. However, the dark brown hair did not change in the slightest.

"Akane Weil?" Allura questioned.

The attacker righted herself up, taking the time to dust herself off dismissively. "Not anymore," she replied. "It's the Queen of Diamonds, now."

Allura raised her bayard glaive and placed it in front of her to deflect a sudden punch from the Queen of Diamonds. A shudder passed through the weapon and along her arms. She stepped back from the shockwave, taking a moment to re-stabilize herself.

The Queen of Diamonds took no hesitation in pushing forward, repeatedly throwing punches at Allura. The latter responded by having to spin her glaive to have each attack bounce off without harming her.

The hallway allowed little to no maneuverability. Allura tried to sweep out her opponent's legs from under her while avoiding her punches, but had to duck too low, and nearly toppled herself over instead. The Queen of Diamonds took the time to slam her foot into Allura's chest and send her skidding.

Allura caught herself down the hall with her glaive but did not get up just yet. Instead, she rolled back when the Queen of Diamonds charged forward to stamp on the ground where her head just was.

Allura popped back up and used the end of her glaive to jab the Queen of Diamonds in the face. She immediately recoiled, grabbing her forehead and cursing in pain. Allura took the time to deliver a well-placed kick into her chest, sending her crashing onto the ground.

Allura, standing over the Queen of Diamonds, couldn't help but smirk. "How does it feel to have the wind kicked out of you?" She questioned.

"Not bad," was the response. "You don't have much strength in those calves of yours, though."

Instead of getting up, the Queen of Diamonds lunged into a grapple attack on Allura's waist. Taken by surprise, she was folded immediately and sent crashing through the brittle wall and back out into the Moon exterior.

Allura rolled on the ground, but once again stuck out her weapon to stop herself. She sucked in a breath, finding it now was more painful than usual to do so. Before the Queen of Diamonds could potentially get the drop on her again, she stood up and readied her weapon for any attack.

She could see that most of the outside area has dissolved into bloody combat. Guardians and Eliksni alike ran back and forth, jumping behind cover or rushing forward at the foes. Flashes of Supers coursed through the air and colorized the sky, as if every breath taken was electrified with power.

As she looked around, the Queen of Diamonds spoke up, breaking her train of thought. "Whaddaya think? All of this brutal combat is sure entertaining to watch!"

Allura looked up. On a rock ledge higher than her stood the Queen of Diamonds, hands on her hips. She was looking out at the scenery with an expression of pride on her face, nodding to herself.

"I'm finding it harder to remember that you are still only a child," Allura admitted.

The Queen of Diamonds scowled. "Huuuuh?" She questioned. "What does that mean?"

"Look around you!" Allura yelled. "Akane Weil, would your father want to see this? Would he want to see what you have wrought upon innocent lives who merely want things to change for the better?"

“Who cares what that old geezer thought?” The Queen of Diamonds asked. “He overstayed his welcome in the mortal realm! The flesh was practically falling off of his face, you know. His brain was probably deteriorating, too!”

"How can you say that about your own father? Didn't you love him?"

"Not anymore, of course." The Queen of Diamonds shrugged. "That was Akane. Now, I'm the Queen of Diamonds. A loyal servant of the Umbra Mondo and what it stands for! And you know that means I have to kill you now, right? So no more blabbing on about family love and all that!" She stuck a finger in her ear. "I mean, I was barely listening. You were boring me to sleep."

Before Allura could respond, the Queen of Diamonds dropped back down. The area around her rippled red with data particles that expanded from her in a circle. Allura initially stepped back but watched as the bits passed by her harmlessly.

“So enough talk!” The Queen of Diamonds banged her gauntlets together before dropping into a battle stance. “Let’s finish this.”

Allura, on instinct, raised her staff again in front of her. The fists deflected off harmlessly on her weapon but still pushed her back every impact. She couldn’t be on the defensive forever, but with the blunt strength and force the Queen of Diamonds wielded, it was hard to figure out what else to do.

As she continuously hopped back, she noticed a dot of light in the corner of her vision. Immediately, she swerved down to avoid it. And on cue, she heard a gun fire, and right behind her, the Queen of Diamonds doubled over.

<“Allura!”> Allura looked up to see a familiar figure. <“Out of the way!”>

Allura quickly lunged to the side before the Queen of Diamonds could recover. She saw Variks drop down on her out of the corner of her eye. At the same time, she heard something explode not too far away, with yelling turning into screams of pain too quickly to be ignored.

She stood upright, looking back over her shoulder. The Queen of Diamonds, surprised by the new fighter, began stumbling back. It was her turn on the defensive now.

Allura got back onto her feet. <“Variks!”>   
  
<“They are calling for a mass retreat!”> Variks chittered. <“All outposts have been sieged by overwhelming forces! You must go back to the others, immediately!”>   
  
<“Not without you!”> Allura began to run back towards Variks pushing the Queen of Diamonds back.

She stopped once she saw movement to her left. She immediately raised her glaive and thrust it forward. Right on target, she speared a Cyber Elf straight through the chest. They choked, and disintegrated, allowing her to swing the glaive behind her and smack aside an Elf trying to sneak up on her from behind. 

As she turned, she could see more running up. It looked like a whole squadron of them. Variks and her alone could not take all of them on.

She stepped back, raising her staff to once more defend her face. <“Variks!”> she called. <“We need to leave, now!”> There was no response. Allura paused, then looked behind her. <“Variks?”>

She caught a single glimpse of Variks’s limp body. His staff was broken and laying by his back turned to her. The Queen of Diamonds was standing over him, a foot on his head as her arms hung by her side. Upon seeming to sense Allura staring at her, she lifted her head and glanced over to her.

“Sorry,” she apologized dismissively. “He attacked first. Self-defense, you know? Though I doubt you care about that.”

Before Allura got three strides over, the Queen of Diamonds charged first. A punch thwacked into her gut, and Allura’s vision went white. The recoil sent her flying, and her body smashed against something hard. It must have been a rock outcropping. Dazed, she fell to the floor facefirst, a copper taste collecting fast in her mouth.

The Queen of Diamonds walked up to her twitching body. “Man, pathetic,” she remarked. “Just a few days ago, you probably could flatten me without much effort. What happened?” She paused, seeming to think for a moment. “Oh, yea. My king upgraded me.”

The floor was ripped up in a cacophony of explosions. The enemy soldiers running towards the small area were promptly consumed in fiery wreaths of a missile strike. A small cluster of ships streaked by in the sky, about three in size. And just after the explosions turned into just smoke rising from the newly-formed Moon craters, a platoon of soldiers began dropping down from the elevated rocks above them.

There was a huff from the Queen of Diamonds as she looked up. “I could take them all on,” she noted. “But I don’t want to. It’s too boring, being a god amongst you all. I would much rather prefer a real fight than just mindlessly killing.” She turned and gave a peace sign over her shoulder. “Later!”

She quickly vanished out of sight, teleporting away from where she stood. Two Eliksni ran over to Variks on the ground and supported him between both of them. Meanwhile, Mithrax leaped down next to Allura and knelt by her.

“Allura!” he called. “Allura, are you with us?” After no answer, he rolled her over and inspected the blood dripping out of her mouth. Saying nothing else, he began to pick her up and carry her on his back. “We are leaving the moon! Immediately!” he called to the soldiers pointing around their guns and firing upon any Umbrati or Cyber Elf turning the corner. “Get the wounded to safety!”

All of them began to run off, the ones carrying the injured and half-dead soldiers with them lagging in the back. All around them, explosions and gunfire encapsulated the ruins of the outpost line, turning the poorly-constructed walls into rubble in mere minutes.


	31. Battle of the Moon: Another Side

The Princess of Nohr Elise was the only healer available within the Tower’s medical wing after fleeing from the fall of her home country. With the recent influx of injured from the failed protection of the moon, there was only so much she could do. She could cure the worst of Allura’s internal bleeding, allowing her to walk safely again, but some people could not be saved by one person alone with a weakened healing stave.

Three days after fleeing the moon, Allura got the news that Variks had died. The medics, short on supplies as they were, did everything they could to at least make his passing comfortable. Even as he told them to save the medical supplies for people who could truly be saved, they used intravenous anesthetics to mitigate the pain in his last moments.

Her shoulders seemed to suddenly sag, and she looked tired. Maybe she had known from the start that, strong as Variks was, he would not be able to recover from this. Perhaps she was relieved that he no longer had to suffer from the acute amounts of pain, as he had for three days straight. Or maybe bitter at herself for allowing her mind to think that he had a chance, even as he was dragged to the ships to abandon the moon’s surface and return home.

There was some good news for her. While not healed completely, Elise’s presence has sped up Keith’s recovery quickly. His arm is still in a cast, not fully set in stone. And the gunshot in his leg has forced him to go along on a crutch or helped along by someone else. But all of the other wounds, including his broken nose, were back to normal.

That came with its drawbacks by itself. Elise has been losing sleep just trying to keep all of the injured alive. The poor girl’s looking too pale to be healthy, a contrast to the dark circles under her eyes. The medical wing’s gone way past its capacity weeks ago, and the numbers only continue to grow, with outposts wiped out all across the solar system and even beyond to the other worlds.

Even those outside of the Alliance are beginning to see the catastrophe at hand. A bright example would be the kingdoms of Renais and Jugdral publicly announcing for any wounded to use the technological gate system to arrive within their kingdom. Askr has recently begun saying the same thing, though warns very quickly that their own wounded would come first. If not for their allies, the Alliance would have been overrun in days with their wounded in all medical areas they control.

But those kingdoms have made a very great risk. The Umbra Mondo may soon turn their attention to them. Their main reasons for not joining the Alliance were specifically to avoid the Alliance-Umbra War. But with these recent bloody skirmishes, they may soon find that they will no longer have a choice in the matter if they wish to survive.

Variks’s funeral was held just outside of the city walls. He was laid on a stone bed, with almost all of the members of the House of World Life attending. Allura was given the honor of bringing the torch to his body.

As she lit one arm up, she watched it spread along his body. He was still wearing the armor dented and cracked by the Queen of Diamond’s mighty fists. She had smashed right through the skin and flattened his organs, but did not crush them. Every breath must have been painful for him, especially for the duration of three days. Or, hopefully, the anesthesia numbed it enough for him to not focus on the agony.

After the funeral, Allura returned to the medical wing. She’s already reported the circumstances to an unmoved Zavala. It seemed like he was only half-listening to her as she, unfortunately, recounted how they lost control of the lunar territories. However, he was nodding along, so it wasn’t like he was completely tuning her out.

She recognized many of the bed occupants. While Adam was sitting up and currently reading a book, he still wasn’t recovered enough to exit the medical wing, judging by the numerous bandages on his chest and arms. And she didn’t want to think about the lack of movement from the waist down. And she recognized that Warlic, Theodore, Lance, Jolyon, and Cayde still have not woken up from undetermined comas.

She walked over to Lance’s bedside. There were no more chairs available for visitors, as medical patients are now sitting in them with the beds full. Andal was standing to the side, a hand holding Lance’s unmoving one. He said nothing, did not even look at Allura as she walked over to be at his side.

“How is he?” Allura attempted to make small talk.

“Alright,” Andal replied. The dark bags under his eyes seemed to have returned, an endless cycle of ups and downs. “Still haven’t woken up, but his vitals are normal.”

“I see.” Allura scowled without meaning to.

“...Heard about Variks,” Andal commented quietly. “I, um...give my regards.”

“Could you have put that any more awkwardly?” Allura remarked.

At that, Andal flinched. “Sorry,” he muttered, immediately looking back to Lance.

Sensing that he didn’t catch the joking tone, Allura quickly tried to recover the mood. “I was joking,” she stammered out. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“That’s,” Andal started, hesitated, then finished with, “That’s a horrible joke.”

“I apologize,” Allura replied. “I am out of sorts. That was uncalled for.”

Andal suddenly gasped and jumped. His gaze shot down to Lance’s bedside. Allura, startled a bit, glanced over to him and was about to ask what was wrong. Then, she picked up that the monitor hooked up to Lance has registered that his heart rate has sped up.

“Yea, ‘Lura,” Lance grunted. The hand held by Andal was now holding him with a tight, but weak squeeze. “Only caught the last part, but whatever you said probably sucked.”

“L...Lance?” Andal choked.

Lance began to rub an eye, holding onto Andal’s arm. “H-Hi, mi alma. What day is it? Do you know?”

“MI ESTRELLA!” Andal immediately pulled Lance halfway out of bed into a hug, pulling out multiple parts of the medical equipment on Lance to keep him alive in the comatose state he was in.

“Whoa, whoa!” Lance clamored but laughed all the same. “Easy, mi alma! Easy! I just woke up, and your metal limbs really can crush a person if you tried hard enough!”

As if confirming something to herself, Allura looked over her shoulder. Indeed, she could see Theodore and Jolyon stirring in their own beds. The former full-on ripped the tubes out of his nose while Jolyon calmly took off his respirator. Both of them began to get helped out of their beds by the overworked staff.

On cue, another one came to Lance’s bedside. “Excuse me?” They called as Andal continued to embrace his lover. “I’m sorry that you may be disorientated, but as you are not in a life-threatening condition, we ask that you give up your bed to another medical patient.”

“Huh?” Lance began to look around. “But there’s plenty-” He cut himself off, seeing how jam-packed the medical wing was. “...There’s not enough beds.”

“Here.” Andal began to unhook Lance the rest of the way. “Do you need me to carry you? I think we should take our talk outside of the medical wing.”

“I...y-yes, I...” Lance allowed Andal to pick him up, arms wrapping around his neck. “Yea, let’s talk outside.”

Allura stepped away from the bed, nodding towards the medical officer. She checked again to make sure Theodore and Jolyon were walking out as well, using each other as support.

She glanced over again. No Warlic. He was still unmoving in bed.

When Allura began to move towards him, Theodore stuck out a hand. “Don’t bother. He, uh...” He paused, fumbling for the right words. “He isn’t back yet.”

“He...isn’t?” Allura questioned slowly.

“He stayed behind,” Theodore said. “He wanted to save Nagito and his siblings. Wouldn’t listen to us when we told him not to. Crazy son of a bitch, right?”

Allura frowned. She didn’t know Warlic personally. She had heard his name in passing conversation a few times before everything went downhill. She didn’t have a correct reply to Theodore.

Jolyon cleared his throat. “Hey, uh...What day is it?”

Allura blinked. “Huh? Oh. June 24th.”

“Damn,” Theodore noted. “About two months that we were gone, huh? Close to a whole season.”

“More or less,” Allura softly agreed. “When did Warlic say he will be back?”

“Dunno,” Jolyon answered. “He implied that he’ll take as much time as he needs to.”

The doors into the medical wing opened up. They looked as who else but Cysero entered. He had a wide grin on his face, carrying a certain repaired staff in his hand as he strode right over.

“I saw Andal carry out Lance as I was heading over here!” He announced. “And seeing that Theodore and Jolyon are awake as well, I’m going to go off on a limb here and say that my buddy is awake and ready to pay off his rent debt for flaking off for two months!”

Jolyon sighed. “He’s not up, buddy,” he clarified. “He’s still asleep.”

Cysero hesitated in his steps of grandeur. “Eh?” He was still smiling, his bangs obscuring his true emotions reflected in his eyes.

“He stayed behind in the digital realm. In fact...” Theodore shook his head. “It’s a long story if you don’t want to get into it.”

“Nah, I’m cool,” Cysero responded. “I still got to work on Rowan’s armor and sword. The last five prototypes with his armor were busts, and I’m not even started on the sword yet! I just came to drop off a quickly finished project, then head back out.”

Allura glanced at the staff in Cysero’s hand. “You repaired it?” she asked.

“Luckily for you, it was only broken in half and dented a bit.” Cysero tossed the staff, and Allura caught it with one hand stuck out. “It was really simple to put it back together, so I decided to just hold off on Rowan’s stuff to fix it.”

Allura turned the staff over in her hands. It looked shiny and brand new, unlike the normal dull shimmer it had. Variks would always use it in battle, having no ideals towards using firearms. He would not have wanted it to be scrapped into a new weapon entirely.

She placed it between both hands, in the same manner Variks would grip it. “Thank you, Cysero.”

“No problem.” Cysero noticed Allura reaching for her bag. “Oh, no no. No payment. It was incredibly simple. Your gratitude is rewarding enough!” He gave her finger guns with an elated grin.

Allura couldn’t help but return with a soft smile. “You’re too kind. Variks would most likely have appreciated you for doing this.”

“Ah, I didn’t know him, so I’ll take your word on that.” He spun around on one foot back to the door. “Welp! Later, Kell of Kells!”

Allura was left standing in the medical wing after Cysero exited. This news should be making her happy. Five of the six victims of the failed mission on May 4th have recovered and left the medical wing to rejoin the fight they have been missing in. But instead, as she looked over at Cayde and Warlic’s limp body, at Adam talking to a half-there Zavala, both of them with sad expressions on their face, all she felt was some sort of hollow victory.


	32. Attack on the Cocoon: Beginning

Spider hasn’t turned on the lights in his office yet. The only thing illuminating the room was the sharp blue glow coming from his computer. It was late at night, the moon hanging above the city. Eirika’s already returned home, and Mint and Nowi are miles away from the Cocoon with Nah and Mary now.

Since the recent surge in Maverick attacks-That was the official naming. There was no reference for Reploids and any other kind of mechanical being suddenly becoming possessed by Cyber Elves and blindly attacking others-The Cocoon has become a ticking time bomb. Spider has called that it would be best for many of the citizens to either get methods of protection or to evacuate. Already, a little less than half of the organic population has fled to less technologically-advanced kingdoms, probably to stay with distant relatives or anyone sympathetic to the situation the Alliance was facing.

Mint and Nowi have been told to head to Division Xeric. It’s a borough hidden away and unknown to most of the universe, distantly north from the Cocoon’s strip of territory. It was built out of the ruins of a town located in the ecoregion but is otherwise remote and self-sustaining. Many Cocoon officials have also fled there for safety and shelter from any oncoming dangers. It has its own protected grid of technology, with no links to the outside world besides telegraphy.

Speaking of, Spider leaned over to the side. Laying there was a telegraph key, connected to a wire disappearing under his desk. He reached over and began to tap on it, recalling the Morse Code from memory.

_ Status-on-arrival-of-Vip1-to-Vip4 _

He leaned back in his chair and returned to the computer. If there have been any Alliance council meetings, Eirika has not been able to attend them. And he can not attend in her place. They can’t leave the Cocoon in such a paranoid and tense situation.

After a few minutes, the machine next to the telegraph key whirred and clicked. He glanced over at it with his eyes as it began to click in dots and dashes.

Then, a small piece of paper shot out. The message was quick and short if it was printed out so quickly. Spider caught it midair with a practiced motion and flapped it a few times to dry the ink. He pulled it up to his face, resting his chin against his other palm.

_ Negative _

They still haven’t arrived yet. He knew that the trek to Division Xeric was a long one, especially by the use of horses. Cars of this day and age with their advanced technological gimmicks were too dangerous. They wouldn’t arrive at the borough in a day. But that didn’t stop him from having the occasional worry that they may not arrive at all.

Upon realizing what his mind was gravitating to, he quickly shook his head. He used his foot to pull out the paper shredder from under his desk, and stuck the slip of paper into it. It was sliced up as it descended into the paper shredder with accompanying noise. Every Morse Code message from Division Xeric has been shredded for maximum security reasons.

Mary was entrusted to Mint and Nowi by her parents. It would be too dangerous for her to linger in the city her parents governed. Traveling along with them and their daughter to Division Xeric would be the best option for her. She would be much safer with them than inside the Cocoon.

The computer turned off, plunging Spider into darkness. He glanced over at it. It probably turned off by itself due to inactivity. He reached for his mouse to shake it around and remove the black screen.

Then he heard a noise. A thud down the hallway. A scream from somebody, then silence. He immediately stood up, grabbing the cards on his belt.

The computer did not turn off from inactivity. They’re here, just as he was expecting. Which means it’s time to wrap up everything.

Spider first grabbed the telegraph key and ripped the cord out of it. The exposed wires sparked once, then were dropped onto the ground as Spider used his bare hands to pull apart the wooden telegraph key and drop it into the trash can, tossing in one of his cards to follow.

“Three of spades,” Spider commented to himself. “Symbolizes tears in cartomancy, as in stressful situations.” He chuckled. “Well, could this attack be considered stressful?”

Calmly, he walked on out of his office, pushing the door open as if he was exiting under normal circumstances. As he did so, he tapped on the side of his head, beginning to run the already-planned coding.

**Diagnostics running...**

**Code burnbook.fuckfox activated.**

**Wiping all memories containing keywords “division” and “xeric”...0% completed...**

The process will take a long time but was necessary. If these attackers got a hold of him, it was important to not be able to divulge any sort of information, like the whereabouts of Division Xeric. Eirika knew this too and was ready to take it to her grave as well. A worthy sacrifice to protect those who are innocent in this clash.

Spider adjusted his coat sleeve, closing the door behind him with his foot as he began to walk down the hall. He tipped his hat, covering it in a casual motion. But really, it was only to pretend to not notice the blood splatter against the wall, with the nearby door slightly ajar. Whoever was killed probably had their body dragged inside that room to hide it.

He heard footsteps behind him, approaching fast. He looked over his shoulder, a hand on his hat. Waiting, waiting...

He smiled, then flicked his wrist out. Now.

His office was promptly encased in a wreath of flame from the explosion. The card in the trashcan detonated and promptly incinerated all and any important files stored inside. Anything to cause a minor inconvenience to the Umbra Mondo.

The enemy charging at him from behind was probably about to attempt to kill him or seize him. Too bad that his office door flew off the hinges. Thanks to Spider’s calculations, he timed the event perfectly as they were crossing the threshold. Because of that, they were promptly smacked into the wall next to them by the door flying forward and smacking them right in the side and crushing them instantly.

**Wiping all memories containing keywords “division” and “xeric”...4% completed...**

Spider pulled out another card, inspecting it. “Six of hearts. A time of peace and harmony where you may achieve your goals if you work together with another.” He tossed it into the adjacent room, and somebody yelled in alarm. “Too bad you’re alone, huh?”

He could see the Umbrati working to pull out the card in their shoulder. After a moment, it exploded, burning up their entire upper body. Their legs flopped to the floor before going up in smoke.

**Wiping all memories containing keywords “division” and “xeric”...9% completed...**

Emerging from the hallway, Spider found himself having a tracer to his forehead. He ducked down, and the glass window of the door he just entered from shattered from the fired bullet. Heading right behind the couch set up in the room, he peeked back over, holding his hat as if worried it would get knocked off.

He could see exactly where the shooter was positioned. Right behind a couch on the opposite side of the room. He shot a card across the room before retracting his arm just as quickly as the throwing motion occurred. Still holding onto his hat, he ducked forward as the explosion sent the attacker flying with a scream.

**Wiping all memories containing keywords “division” and “xeric”...14% completed...**

As the dust settled, Spider peeked back up, slowly releasing his hat. Nothing else moved in the room. Just to be safe, he put three cards in his left hand and slowly emerged from hiding, ready to throw all of them if anything happened.

When nothing did, he approached the door adjacent to him. Quickly, he checked through the glass window, tilting up his hat. He didn’t see any source of movement. Slowly, he opened the door, cards ready.

A spray of gunfire made him pull back the door immediately. The wood splintered, and shards fell to the floor at Spider’s feet. He threw his cards in blindly before closing the door fully and jumping to the side to avoid any backblast that could knock down the door.

As he rolled, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He immediately rolled to the side, clutching his hat. A sword stabbed the air just where he was, glowing a faint purple in the dark room.

**Wiping all memories containing keywords “division” and “xeric”...20% completed...**

Spider got back up, dodging the sword whenever it was swung. When the wielder’s arm shot out for a piercing stab again, he grabbed their wrist and flung them over his head and into the couch behind him. The furniture creaked and snapped under his strength, and the attacker let out a wheezing cry of pain.

Spider calmly dropped a card onto their chest. “Jack of diamonds. Symbolizes someone as the bearer of bad news.” He made a small hissing noise. “It sucks to be you right now.” He extended his other arm and snapped his fingers.

Behind him, both the couch and the attacker erupted in a wreath of fire. Spider calmly stepped out of range of the explosion, readjusting his sleeve.

**Wiping all memories containing keywords “division” and “xeric”...26% completed...**

With the current threat neutralized, Spider tried the door again. It was halfway to falling off of its hinges. The glass looked to be almost melting, and the door was burnt on one side. Spider had to quickly open the door from how hot the handle was.

The hallway still had licks of flames in the corner. Spider moved and stamped one out with his foot. He could burn rugs and furniture: he didn’t want to go all over the city hall and replace all the walls again. It was painful enough when they tore down the original one to build a more structurally sound version.

Spider began to head down the hall, looking around. It seemed empty, but he’s learned from his better years. Never trust an empty hallway, especially if it’s dark, and you have nobody to watch your back.

**Wiping all memories containing keywords “division” and “xeric”...30% completed...**

“It’s very good to see you again, Spider.”

Spider paused halfway down the hall. He looked back over his shoulder at the way he came from. Stepping out from the shadows-No, stepping out from the WALL-was somebody Spider didn’t recognize at first. Their purple cape flowed out from the darkness behind them, and their footsteps were constantly followed by smoky shadows.

After a moment, Spider blinked. “Fox?” he questioned.

“Oh, yes,” he commented. “I realize that you’ve not met me as the Shadow King before. Dreadfully apologize, but I think I like the change in style. What about you?”

Spider scoffed. “You’re still as ugly to the poor eyes as ever, old friend.” Of course, he said that mockingly.

The Shadow King smiled in return. “Tell me, how’s the wife?” He asked.

Eirika. Spider stopped for a moment. The blood splatter in the hallway. Could that have been her instead of some other official working late? No, the Shadow King wouldn’t kill her so uneventfully. He would make a show about it. But then again, he recommended all organics to evacuate the city, in case something like this happened.

**Wiping all memories containing keywords “division” and “xeric”...35% completed...**

Time. Right. Spider needed more time.

“Fine,” Spider responded. “And what about on your end? Do you still have any loved ones? Didn’t have any during the Otherworlder War, if I remember.”

“All dead,” the Shadow King confirmed. “I believe the only loved one I had was my darling Queen, who I proceeded to kill myself for power.” He placed a hand on his cheek. “Just to fancy a question, Spider. Would you do the same? Kill your wife for the thing you seek most in life?”

“What would I even seek?” Spider joked. “I have a loving wife, a daughter, a home, and people that look up to me. I wouldn’t do a thing to harm any of them. I have no goals in life beyond where I stand now.”

**Wiping all memories containing keywords “division” and “xeric”...41% completed...**

The Shadow King nodded. “I can see where that comes from,” he noted, and something glimmered on his cheek.

Taken aback a bit, Spider frowned. “Are you...?” He began.

Something fell to the ground from the Shadow King’s face. It made a soft plink as it landed, indicating it as solid. Spider blinked, not sure what to make of that.

“Oh, that.” The Shadow King knelt and picked it up. “It seems that this stupid body of mechanics and light does not agree with the darkness I received from murdering the Shadow Queen. Therefore, I find myself crying these tears as a physical construct of my bodily conflict.” He shrugged before holding the small, jewel-like orb of a mixed dark pinkish color between two fingers. “I have not found out if they are useful yet.” He pressed them together, and the jewel shattered, giving off similarly-colored sparks as the small light coming from it died out.

**Wiping all memories containing keywords “division” and “xeric”...48% completed...**

“But enough about me,” the Shadow King said. “Let’s cut to the point.”

At that, Spider pulled out two more cards. Jack of spades and three of hearts. “Why are you here?” he questioned. “Not confident enough in your lackeys finishing the job?”

“Oh, no no no.” The Shadow King chuckled. “I’m sure that they did not give you a hard time, but they are most certainly giving Eirika some difficulty.”

At that, Spider paused. “What?”

“Your house is quite nice,” the Shadow King continued. “Homely, two-floor with beautiful potted plants on your porch. And your balcony has such pretty hanging lights. The master bedroom brings it all together with the red and silver coloring.” He thought for a moment. “But the baby toys from a toddler do clash with the environment. They don’t even match the purple bedroom her white crib is in.”

**Wiping all memories containing keywords “division” and “xeric”...63% completed...**

Spider forgot all about the deletion process. He marched right over to the Shadow King and grabbed him by the collar. He just let it happen, a smile showing up on his face.

“What have you done?” Spider’s voice trembled between fear and anger.

“I’ve done nothing,” the Shadow King responded. “All of the work is being done by my soldiers. Direct your anger at them. Not me.”

“Don’t be exact and cocky here!” Spider snarled. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO EIRIKA?!”

**Wiping all memories containing keywords “division” and “xeric”...71% completed...**

“Pah.” The Shadow King only shrugged. “Would you believe me if I simply said that I killed her? Would you yell at me in disbelief if I say that I had a limb torn off? If I said something you didn’t like, you would just choose to ignore me. So there’s no point in telling you.”

“Stop skirting around the subject on your high horse!” Spider spat.

The Shadow King gently pushed Spider away. “You are starting to get on my nerves.”

**Wiping all memories containing keywords “division” and “xeric”...77% completed...**

“Last chance.” Spider raised his two cards again. “Where is Eirika?”

“She’s home,” the Shadow King said. “Perfectly safe. I mean, for now, at least. I do have the power to order her execution at any second without her knowing it, however, so you might not want to do anything too risky, Spider.”

“I don’t care. If I find out that you’ve hurt her-”

**System error. Multiple system failures.**

**Outside presence detect-**

**Virus protocols overridden.**

**Code burnbook.fuckfox canceled at 81%.**

Spider choked as his body suddenly went rigid. He fell to his knees, gripping at his neck as the Shadow King stepped back with a smile. He could feel unknown coding leaking into his data, claiming bits and pieces by the second.

“As I said, don’t be cocky,” the Shadow King chided. “You may not even notice when a Cyber Elf is sneaking up behind you.”

“Y-You...” Spider growled. “I’ll get you...for this...!”

**Commencing forced shutdown...**

Spider found himself slowly falling onto his side, the room beginning to spin around him. “Fox...You...” He felt his head thunk down and his hat roll off.

**Spidernewgen.exe offline.**


	33. Attack on the Cocoon: Halfway

**Booting up systems...**

**No system failures detected.**

**Activating core.mind...**

**Activating core.soul...**

**Activating backcore.soul2...**

**All cores active. Turning on Spidernewgen.exe...**

“Spider? Spider, are you awake?”

With a grunt, Spider slapped a hand to his face. He rubbed his eyes as the closest thing there was to a Reploid migraine made his head pound. Slowly, he sat up, keeping a palm on his forehead.

Eirika was on her knees next to him. She quickly took his arm in an attempt to stabilize him as he forced himself upright from the floor. She was wearing a nightdress, probably having been getting ready to go to bed or was already in it. When Spider looked at her, he could see dried blood and bruises on her arms and face.

Immediately, he cupped her face. “Eirika!” he gasped. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” Eirika nodded. “Yes, I am. Don’t worry. Most of the blood is from the attackers, though I will admit that I got hit a few times.”

Spider looked around. He recognized a few of the boxes laying nearby. They were in the basement of their home, he was sure of it.

He began to sit up, but his leg stayed firmly in place. He looked down to see a shackle around his ankle, connected to a chain wrapping around a nearby support beam. Trying to pull it off of the shackle proved useless, remaining steadily welded to the locked restraint.

“So you’re awake,” a voice remarked. “Good. I was beginning to worry that I damaged something in your head.”

Spider looked back up as he felt Eirika release him. Two guards wearing the Umbra Mondo’s colors were dragging her away. She was kicking and struggling but was quiet about it as if holding in some sort of dignity. And towering over Spider was the Shadow King, smiling as if he’s won the entire Alliance-Umbra War.

Spider sighed. “I think it would have been easier for both of us if you simply killed me, wouldn’t it?”

“Easier, yes,” the Shadow King agreed. “But does it match up with what I want? No, not at all.”

Spider rolled his eyes. “The money safe is under my desk, the code is the day the Cocoon was founded, June 16th-”

The Shadow King cut him off with a handwave. “I understand many of your townspeople have evacuated, but many of your officials seem to have taken a different path. I want to know where they have gone.”

“What good will that do?” Spider shrugged. “With me chained up in my own basement, I think it’s safe to say that you’ve officially conquered the city. Why busy your time picking off the stragglers when you have much more important work to do?”

“I want to make sure that I’ve wrapped up absolutely everything,” the Shadow King clarified. “Now let me repeat myself, Spider. Where have your officials and your daughter gone?”

“Ah hah,” Spider declared. “The exact reason why I am not telling you a thing.” In a casual motion, he drummed his fingers along his noggin, trying to play it off.

**Diagnostics running...**

**Code burnbook.fuckfox activated.**

**Wiping all memories containing keywords “division” and “xeric”...0% completed...**

It was already over halfway done when it was canceled. A second run would occur just faster. Just a minute more, and Mary was perfectly safe until this whole thing was over.

“My daughter is involved in this, you see,” Spider began. “And I don’t think you know this, but parents would go to crazy lengths to preserve their children’s safety. Might as well say they would even die for them.” He held up a hand. “Cross my heart and hope to die, Eirika and I swore to not give you a damn thing.”

**Wiping all memories containing keywords “division” and “xeric”...29% completed...**

“In fact, I wouldn’t even be able to give you anything.”

The Shadow King rolled his eyes. “I know. What a mature name the coding had. ‘Fuck Fox’, you say?”

At that, Spider froze and quickly turned off the process with another tap to his head. “Come again?”

“I knew you wouldn’t say anything, so I went through your memory data,” the Shadow King announced. “I just thought it would be fun to dangle the idea of victory in front of you.” He suddenly snagged Spider’s hat off. “And let me tell you, Division Xeric sounds like an interesting place to visit.”

“You BASTARD!” The Shadow King looked as Eirika broke the nose of one Umbrati holding her with a backhand. When the other immediately let go to avoid her, she took a sword out of the one writhing on the ground’s scabbard and lunged at the king.

While he did have an impressed look on his face, he stepped back and let Eirika stab midair. Then, he raised his hand and shot a ball of darkness out from his hand. It hit her right in the chest, and she was flung back, caught by Spider immediately getting up on his feet.

“Eirika!” He yelped, bringing her down to ground level. “What did you do to her?!”

“She attacked me first,” the Shadow King replied with a sneer. “That was purely self-defense on my end.”

“Don’t you dare touch my daughter!” Spider snarled at him. “Or I’m going to be the one ripping your soul out from your body by the throat!”

The Shadow King looked over at the two Umbrati, one helping the other up. “Make sure you restrain them down here and take away any potential weapons. I would hate for my old friends to interrupt my next victory.”

“Yes, your Majesty!” One of the knights bowed.

He looked back at Spider attempting to free himself from the shackle while holding the unconscious Eirika protectively close. “I would love to stay and chat some more, old friend, but I have business to prepare for.” Ascending the steps, he swung open the door and wiggled his fingers in a wave goodbye. “Ta-ta for now!”


	34. Attack on the Cocoon: Ending

With Spider’s office incinerated beyond belief, most likely a method to burn any important documents the enemy might use to their advantage, the Shadow King temporarily relocated the main office elsewhere. He decided to use a normal working office, belonging to somebody named “Osamu Fujimura”. He, too, had probably fled to a neighborhood city or to this ‘Division Xeric’ the Shadow King is preparing to invade soon. But for now, the Shadow King simply tossed his belongings out to be incinerated and set up the new office in there.

Mirage was standing in front of his desk. His back was rigid as the large sword strapped to his arm rested its tip against the tile ground. He watched the Shadow King sitting in the chair at the desk silently.

“Sorry for the wait,” the Shadow King curtly apologized. “I expected there to be a delay with my second guest, but not for this long.”

Mirage cleared his throat. “If I may ask,” he began. “Who is this second guest, my lord?”

“Another old friend,” the king replied with a smile. “Being here is just such a sweet trip down memory lane, isn’t it?” When Mirage looked around, probably confused, he quickly waved a hand. “Ah, for me, of course. I forget who has what memories sometimes. Dearly apologize.”

The door was opened up by a knight with one hand. As it swung open, he and another soldier dragged in a kicking and squirming individual. A bag was over their head, muffled sounds slipping past the burlap with their wrists tied behind their backs. The two soldiers pushed him down into a chair, taking off the bag to reveal frizzed purple hair and black tape over the mouth.

“We found him trying to sneak out over the wall,” one soldier reported. “Our scouts were able to paralyze him before he made it over.”

“Thank you. You both are dismissed.” The king watched both soldiers exit the room, closing the door behind them.

Cedar glared daggers at the Shadow King, huffing silently. So the intuition was correct. The sniper was found within the Cocoon. Fitting that the city he would ‘retire’ to was the one filled with what remained of what he called a friend group.

The Shadow King grinned. “Cedar! It’s been so long. How’s the husband and son?” After a moment, he chuckled. “Oh, yes, wait. My bad.” He gestured to his own mouth. “Do you mind, Mirage?”

“Of course.” Mirage reached over and ripped off the tape.   
  
“Pleh!” Cedar grimaced, moving around his stinging lips, before frowning. “Fox. I can never get rid of you, can I?”

“It does feel like I never left,” the Shadow King agreed. “I’ve been doing so much to make up for five years of lost time! I wonder how the official death toll will look after the end of the Alliance-Umbra War. Perhaps in the millions, wouldn’t you say? Much higher than the Otherworlder War ever could dream of.”

“Stop speaking in dreamy tones and cut to the chase,” Cedar demanded. “Why haven’t you executed me yet?”

To reply, the Shadow King leaned forward. “I want to make a proposition for you, Cedar.”

At that, Cedar couldn’t help but guffaw. “Me?” He exclaimed. “Working for you? It seems power as a so-called ‘king’ is getting to your head. I recommend taking that noggin of yours out of the clouds because I would rather die than work with you.”

“Oh, you mistake me,” the king replied. “It’s not your life on the line here.”

Cedar paused at that. “And where are you going with that?”

The Shadow King stood up. “A lot more than you is at stake here,” he remarked, stepping to a window overlooking the office. “I mean, I’m sure the Cocoon would mourn the loss of its great leader and his immediate family.”

Immediately, Cedar lunged up onto his feet, and Mirage quickly moved to shove him back into his seat. “You wouldn’t dare touch any of them!” he snarled.   
  


“Ah!” The Shadow King turned back to Cedar with a smile. “It seems my presumptions were correct. You care quite dearly for all three of them, no? Eirika, Spider, and their little Mary?”

“Where are they?” Cedar demanded. When there was no reply at first, he tried to throw himself forward again, Mirage holding his shoulder in a vice grip. “Where are they, Fox?!”

“Safe,” the Shadow King replied. “For now, of course. Spider and Eirika are in their house, under adequate care.”

“Bullshit.”

That earned Cedar a roll of the eyes. “Don’t be so crass. Let me finish speaking. They are under adequate care at the moment. I could kill them at any time I want to: probably to set an example for the civilians of the Cocoon.” He then smiled. “But why do that? Let them have their hope while I put my sights elsewhere.”

“Then Mary,” Cedar realized. “You haven’t said where she is, yet.”

“I know where she is,” the King replied. “She’s just a little...misplaced. Guided away from her darling parents. For her own protection, no doubt. She’s fleeing with Secretary Boyce’s family to somewhere called ‘Division Xeric’.” Cedar drew in a quick breath. “Oh, you know of it?”

After a bit of hesitation, Cedar murmured, “Picked it up in passing conversation once or twice.”

“Well, if you’re scared of me knowing where it is, don’t worry. I already know where it is, in the northern shrublands. And oh, it would be so easy to wipe it off of the map, wouldn’t you say? One aerial strike would desolate every building there...”   
  
“Don’t!” Cedar cried out.

“Oh?” The Shadow King smiled. “Don’t what? Don’t hurt them? Don’t worry. I won’t. As long as you listen to what I have to say.”

Cedar couldn’t help but sigh. “The reason why you want to forgive and forget?”

“What, in terms of you?” At that, the Shadow King laughed. “I think I’ve taken enough vengeance against you to have my fill. Taking away Takumi and Dynamo was fun enough, so I think we’re even.”

“Two lives for one that came back?”

“Well, the life that came back was me, so I can agree the tradeoff was rather skewed in my direction,” the Shadow King admitted. “But that isn’t what we’re here to talk about, is it?”

“...No,” Cedar murmured, ducking his head a little. “No, it’s not.”

“Good. You understand the position you’re in.” The Shadow King chuckled. “I want you to do me a favor. Do so, and I can guarantee you the safety of little Mary.”

“And Eirika and Spider?”

“Oh, that’s too much of a different story,” the Shadow King replied. “Politics and all that. You would understand if you were some sort of official yourself, but you aren’t, so I won’t bother you with the long story.”

“So if I do whatever you want, I’m only...?”

“Only protecting Mary and the Boyce family,” the King agreed. “But one person safe is better than none, no?” Cedar said nothing, and the Shadow King walked towards him. “So? How about it? Your servitude in exchange for the safety of Mary and the Boyce family?”

Cedar replied after his face was twisted into a scowl for a hot moment. “What do you need me to do?”

“Finally, we’re getting somewhere!” The Shadow King sat back into the chair behind his new desk. “Wonderful.” He leaned forward into the palm of his hand. “You see, there’s a man who’s been on my nerves lately. He isn’t aligned with your Alliance, but does help the resistance in the Umbra Mondo your brother is in from time to time.”

At that, Cedar lost his scowl. “My brother?”

“Oh, right. You don’t know that, either.” The Shadow King tapped his forehead with a frown. “I apologize. I sometimes forget who knows what in the grand scheme of some things.” He then smiled. “Redwood is alive. He’s been so since...A little bit after Takumi and Dynamo died. Revived by the resistance leader.”

“Kurami...” Cedar couldn’t help but hiss a bit. “Damn...”

“Upset at her?” The Shadow King guessed.

“Ain’t your business,” Cedar responded. “What were you saying about some man?”

“Aw, yes. He goes by many names.” The Shadow King idly gestured in a sweeping manner. “Even I do not know them all. I know of Wu Ming and the Drifter and have heard a bit about a ‘Todd’, but that is the limit. But regardless of what he calls himself, he has interfered more than once in some of my plans. If I do not remove him, I may actually begin to consider him a weighted threat.”   
  
Cedar chuckled. “Good for one man to bother you so, huh? Reminds you that you’re not much of a god after all.”

The Shadow King couldn’t help but shrug. “That may be true,” he admitted. “But I still want him eliminated. He is a thorn in my side I can no longer endure.”   
  
“And if I do this for you, Mary and the Boyce family are safe?”   
  
“A worthy tradeoff,” the Shadow King replied. “I bet you know by now how much I love those.”

Cedar’s frown ripped into a scowl, but he said nothing. He looked down at the ground as if to attempt to forget he was sitting there in the enemy clutches. Mirage, who has been quiet this entire discussion, continued to stare at him silently, waiting for any brazen moves to be made, like charging at the Shadow King or attempting to flee.

Cedar glanced back up but didn’t raise his head all of the way. “You swear on that?”

“On my very own life, if you kill Wu Ming, I will not harm those darling girls in any way.” The Shadow King raised his hand.

“Fine.” Cedar withdrew his hands from his back, and Mirage blinked as he stuck his hand out. “A deal, then.”

“How long have your hands been untied?” The Shadow King decided to ask before shaking his hand.

“Since before we stepped inside of this little office,” Cedar admitted. “Mirage wasn’t even keen enough to notice me taking them off even with a bag on my head.”

The Shadow King gave a glance to Mirage. “Learn from this,” he simply said.

Mirage turned to the Shadow King and bowed. “Yes, milord.”


	35. Attack on the Cocoon: Another Side

The King of Spades reclined back into the chair he had just constructed in the dataspace as Nagito floated before him. “Hello there, Komaeda.”   
  


Nagito politely tipped his head forward. “King of Spades,” he returned in a smile.

“What brings you here to me?” The King of Spades asked. “I thought you were exploring the Last City, getting a feel for it.” He tilted his head. “Had your fill already?”

“I came back as soon as I heard the news.” Nagito’s face darkened after a split second. “You empowered my siblings.”

“What, you’re mad about that?” he had to ask.

“The more you plunge them into despair, the brighter their hope will eventually shine,” Nagito pointed out. “You are becoming your undoing.”

The King of Spades turned away in his chair. “I don’t have time for your lecture.”

Nagito floated up and flew in an arch in the air. Soon enough, he was dangling upside down, his face in front of the King of Spades. His black coat was hanging down around him, much like his mop of bleached white hair.

“Tell me what happened?” Nagito smiled.

The King of Spades extended a finger and pushed Nagito back midair. “Personal space?” He responded.

Nagito quietly obeyed and floated about two feet backward. He flipped over in the air so he was facing upright, purple data particles constantly flowing down his legs. Then, he crossed them midair and started to silently watch the King of Spades.

After an awkward moment, the King of Spades sighed. “It started during our siege on the moon. When the House of World Life arrived, Akane found very quickly that she was lacking in power. So she came to me for help on that matter. I had been thinking of boosting the power of all of your siblings at this point, but her request just solidified my thought process. So I gathered all of your siblings and gave them a software update, so to speak.”

“A very advanced one,” Nagito agreed.

“Akane became the Queen of Diamonds,” the King of Spades began. “I upgraded her gauntlets into ones that created more shockwave effects than damage potential. With that, she proceeded to finish taking over the moon in the Shadow King’s name.”

“That’s right,” Nagito mused. “You don’t seem all that concerned in conquering. You’re just giving it all over to your superior.” He giggled. “What sort of king are you if you’re just another pawn on the chessboard? A bishop, at best!”

“Shut up!” The King of Spades snarled. “I owe him my life. It is because of him that I am alive and the closest to succeeding in my goals.”

“Is that it?” Nagito asked. “Or is something else keeping you on his collection of leashes?” He drifted forward slightly, reaching a hand out to touch the King of Spades’ face. “Something...beyond your control?”

He hit the hand away, sighing a bit in response. “If you’re only going to bother me like this, just leave.”

“I apologize.” Nagito gave a serene smile, pulling back the hand. “Please continue?”

“Right.” The King of Spades leaned back in his chair. “Next was Kazuichi. I upgraded his mechanical prowess to near-limitless abilities able to be used anywhere and anytime. As the King of Clubs, he’ll be moving in to take the last of the three kingdoms on that one world.”

“Three kingdoms...” Nagito mused for a moment, then smiled. “Ah! Valla, then!”   
  


“Correct. Though I won’t tell you how we plan to take it over. That would spoil the fun for when you get to watch it, wouldn’t it?” The King of Spades leaned on one armrest with a smirk.

“Oh, it would,” Nagito agreed, beginning to lazily stretch his back and arms while still floating.

“Sonia became the Queen of Hearts. A rather darling girl, that one. She doesn’t exactly have a weapon, but instead rules distantly from the frontlines, much like royalty. I think she’s got her eyes set in a town in a forest, but I happen to forget its name, at the moment...Heh, that’s how useless it is.”

“If it’s so useless, why does she want to take it?” Nagito asked.

“Who knows?” the King of Spades responded. “Maybe because from what I heard, it’s where ‘all heroes start’. I guess it’s a hub for them. I believe it’ll be demoralizing to take one’s home by storm and fire amid war, no?”

Nagito nodded, humming a bit. “Good point,” he remarked. “So that just leaves big brother Izuru.”

“The Joker,” the King of Spades concurred. “He’s at the newly taken Cocoon with the Shadow King. I hear he’s going to give your big brother a mighty big assignment. What it is, I don’t know at the time being. But we’ll find out down the road, won’t we?”

Nagito bobbed his head back and forth, rocking on crossed legs. “Yes, perhaps we will,” he muttered.

The King of Spades tilted his head. “Hey, you approach me with these questions. Why are you letting your mind wander?”

“Hm?” Naito blinked, then waved a hand with a nervous smile. “Ah, sorry about that. I was thinking about our Tier Odin prisoner.”

“You are too fascinated in him for me to ignore,” the King of Spades admitted, leaning forward. “The Shadow King came to me the other day to complain about the holdup in his Cyber Elf conversion.”

“He did?” Nagito questioned. “Did you apologize on my behalf?”

“Sort of,” the King of Spades replied. “I told him you wanted to keep him around for whatever reason you have, and I think he’s fine with it because he dropped the subject soon afterward.”

Nagito smiled at the King. “Oh, thank you very much!”

He was partially towards the door before the King of Spades stopped him with, “What are your plans for him, anyway? We can’t keep him locked in a room forever.” He paused. “Well, we can, but you know what I’m talking about.”

“Don’t worry,” Nagito said as he passed through the doorframe. “I’ve been talking to him lately. I can confirm that I will soon be done with him.”


	36. Battle of Valla: Beginning

Lumine hasn’t slept in the past two days. He’s been running solely on emergency charges and solar energy drinks just to make sure he could sit upright on his throne. He’s just been consumed by too much worry to sleep properly.

Both Nohr and Hoshido were taken by storm not too long ago. Just at the beginning of the month, he had been talking with Hinoka without much care in the world. It was about a new trade route by use of a specific gate. Now, on the last day of the month, he had that same gate scrapped, along with the normal technological gate shut down so the enemy now occupying her castle wouldn’t use them to get to Valla. 

Her castle. That’s rich. Apparently, it’s Queen Sakura’s now, also occupied by the Umbra Mondo. Hinoka reportedly committed suicide to keep her honor intact instead of being executed by the enemy. And that’s not getting into Princess Camilla and King Xander being murdered in the streets or their own castle in Windmire. Thank goodness both Elise and Leo are unaccounted for, but disconnecting the gates meant no Alliance information would be coming to Valla. He didn’t know for how long they’ll be “unaccounted for”, and if they already aren’t.

For now, all he could do was sit and reign over Valla with Corrin by his side. Both of them were tired, and almost constantly looking over their shoulders. Lumine had hit a doorframe with his shoulder one time, making a ‘thunk’ noise, and Corrin had pulled Yato halfway out of its sheath until she realized it was just him and calmed down. He didn’t blame her.

It was a sharp contrast to their children, who had barely a grasp on what was happening. They continued to play and perform well under their royal tutors throughout the castle. But Lumine couldn’t tell them why they could no longer leave Valla. He didn’t want to give them the heartbreaking knowledge that not one, but three of their aunts and uncles have suddenly passed. They were too young to know.

As he wondered that in the back of his head, sitting upon his throne in the quiet castle, he realized the castle had been too quiet. He hasn’t heard from his two children or their tutors in hours. But perhaps it was late, and their bedtime has passed without him noticing.

He began to get up from his throne when the entrance to the throne room opened. Confused, Lumine looked up for a split second, stopping halfway in rising up.

A red blast was traveling across the throne room, taking with it a red glow. Lumine skidded to the left, staff halfway out of its storage as the throne exploded into shrapnel. Lumine ducked as bits flew over his head, a few skimming his body, but barely harming it.

The king looked again at the doorway. He’s never seen the King of Spades in person beyond the digital realm before. But it felt as if he could recognize him by a glance. The glitching mirage and the cold red eyes were a dead giveaway.

“Hello, Your Majesty.” The King of Spades lowered the hand that fired the shot.

Lumine huffed. “Here to kill me like what you did with Hinoka and Xander?”

“Oh, no,” was the reply. “Something quick and painless? Not for you. Hinoka and Xander suffered before they lost their lives. It’s only fair if the same is done to you.”

Lumine gritted his teeth. “If you aim to break me before you kill me, you will find that it will be immensely difficult to do that.” He readied his staff, expecting the King of Spades to come charging at him.

Instead, all he got was laughter. “Oh, I don’t plan to break you in battle,” was the reply. “I know that the hero types have wills of steel when it comes to physical pain. Pain to the heart, however, is a whole different story. I mean, haven’t you noticed it’s a bit too quiet around here?”

The fact that Lumine immediately knew what the King of Spades was talking about should have been worrying. “Kana and Elizabeth,” he murmured.   
  


“Oh, yeah. Those are the names of your kiddies, right? They’re quite cute, I’m gonna admit. How old are they? They still got some of a baby face!”   
  


“Where are they?” The voice came quiet and subdued, but the King of Spades could feel the barely-contained rage behind every word. “What have you done with them?”

“Nothing, nothing!” The King of Spades quickly proclaimed. “Nothing yet, anyway. Why, do you want me to do something?”

At that, Lumine drew out his staff, his crystals beginning to encircle him. He said nothing, but his expression told the King enough. He was probably about to die in the next ten seconds if he didn’t start saying what the king of Valla wanted him to say.

“They’re fine,” the King of Spades said. “They’re currently under the care of my King of Clubs. No harm will be coming to them anytime soon.”

“What’s the catch here?”

“Oh, you certainly catch on quick,” the King of Spades commented. “Yes, there is a catch here. You see, they’re rather far out from your kingdom of Valla’s territory. Right in a territory where sending out troops is almost certainly a declaration of war, one you will most definitely lose.”

“You would put Hoshido and Nohr’s armies on us,” Lumine murmured.

“Yes, yes! And I would like to grant you some sort of mercy. A glimmering hope for your feeble-minded people.”

“You want me to go alone to this meeting place.”

The King of Spades clasped his hands. “No wonder Fox rebuilt you after the Jakob Elevator incident. You’re quite smart.” He turned away.

Lumine couldn’t help but take a step forward. “What? That’s it? You just say something like that and leave?”

The King of Spades looked back, visibly confused. “Yes,” he answered. “What else did you expect, a nice chat about our differences over tea? No, I expect you to try and have me killed if I did that. I’ll be leaving with all of my body parts intact, thank you very much.”

“Wait, King of Spades!”

Too late. The boy gave a salute and a smile before departing in an explosion of red data that drifted out the open door. Lumine stood alone in the throne room an instant after the King of Spades was just there.

He did not move at first, continuing to stare at the door still open. Past it, he could see two rivers of blood trickling into view and down the castle steps. The two entryway guards. Of course the King of Spades struck them down.

Lumine turned back towards the throne and began to walk towards it. While doing so, he pulled out a paper from storage, along with a blue pen. He inspected the bite marks made idly on it before pressing the nib to the paper and began to write gently in order to not break the pen. He still occasionally breaks fountain pens by overestimating their durability.

Once he was done with the note, he set it down onto the throne seat. He capped the pen and let it go back into storage. Adjusting his Vallian robe, he set it onto the armrest, frizzing up his hair a bit in the process.

“Be back soon,” he murmured before heading and walking towards the door. “I promise.”

At least he was more courteous and closed the door behind him.


	37. Battle of Valla: Halfway

Sneaking through the territories of both Hoshido and Nohr to get to Valla was a pain to do. Unfortunately, the technological gates were shut down, so it had to be the long way over there. At least it was only a one-person party; those hide much better than any number past four.

Since they got back to the Alliance from the Dreaming City, Kamui’s thought long and hard about what Uldren and Leo said to him. About confronting his past head-on and introducing himself to the queen of Valla. Corrin, the woman his entire genetic makeup was based on. And then when he began to think about it, he couldn’t stop doing so.

The recent spike in bloodshed and losses was little more than a weak deterrent to Kamui. The longer he waited, the chance of never getting closure to this gaping wound in himself grew. So he decided to pack up and slip out of the Last City. Using not the technological gates of Valla, but one of an outpost still in Alliance control far away from the borders and in neutral territory, Kamui made the long trek towards the kingdom separated from safety.

He felt a bit cowardly, running from any chance of fighting. But he wanted to make it to Valla in one piece without alerting any wary eyes of himself. He was in enemy territory. He wouldn’t stand a chance if he decided to pick a fight.

“Enemy territory”...How rich. Just a few weeks ago, it belonged to the Alliance. It felt like it was only conquered in days, any resistance being crushed without even blinking. It’s almost sad that if someone told Kamui Nohr and Hoshido would fall, he would only laugh and consider it a bitter joke in the circumstances.

But no. It was the first day of July, and both kingdoms had been stolen in only a single week, at most. A bitter loss made even harder to swallow with the deaths of Queen Hinoka and King Xander, in quick succession with each other.

Now only Valla stood. The Alliance knew little about its situation, with the technological gates cutting off any source of news traveling back and forth. The only way to know would be to cut through Hoshidan and Nohrian territory to get to Valla from the point of their outpost’s technological gate, which was extremely risky. Unlike the Alliance, who have decided to deal with Hoshido and Nohr’s constant pressing on their outpost first, Kamui didn’t care about the risks.

Wandering through the forest alone was more peaceful than Kamui imagined. He thought shadows would loom over him as he would constantly look over his shoulder in fear of any lurking enemy. Instead, he had half a mind to start skipping along the dirt road he was taking under the treetops.

But alas, night was beginning to fall, and his feet were beginning to get sore. So, he began to seek out a place to stay for the night. When he chose what looked to be a calm and quiet lake, he set down his pack by the rocks and began to explore a bit.

The lake wasn’t that big, with a river breaking off from it and flowing deeper into the forest. In the back was a medium-sized waterfall crashing down onto the rocks bordering the lake. And after closer investigation, it seems that there was a small cave behind the waterfall, perfect for hiding for the night.

Stepping into this small cave, Kamui sat himself down and opened his bag. He had been traveling faster than he anticipated. He was guessing that there would have been some bumps along the road, slowing him down. Instead, he was making quick work of time management.

He didn’t exactly pack any camping equipment. He wanted to travel light and fast, so he went in the minimalist direction while gathering up supplies. All he had was a map of the surrounding lands of Hoshido, Nohr, and Valla, handmade for him by a cartographer, and enough food to last him what he estimated was the journey’s length. Because he underestimated the speed he would be going, he had more of a food surplus.

Now, he laid out the map on the driest rock he could find in the hidden cavern. Taking out a ration bar, he unwrapped it while listening to the waterfall crash down for a minute. Then, he bent over the map, beginning to trail a finger along it.

After a few minutes, the waterfall began to sound like talking. Kamui initially ignored it, believing it to just be muddled noises. When he realized it was talking, and words were being formed, that’s when the hairs on the back of Kamui’s neck stood up.

“This is the meeting place you gave to that sucker, right?”

“Well, I didn’t tell him out loud where we were going,” another voice admitted. “But I bet he’s been following close behind us this whole time. That’s why I walked here.”

Kamui slowly got up from his sitting position, putting away the half-eaten ration. He considered unsheathing his blade but remembered its glowing effect. If somebody was there, they could see the purple light from behind the waterfall, and they’ll be alerted to his presence. So he kept a hand on the pommel but didn’t unsheath it just yet.

“Now, don’t go too far, kiddies!” The first voice announced. “Keep your playing area around this lake, okay?”

“Okay!” A tiny voice replied, and Kamui heard pattering footsteps approaching the waterfall. He sucked in a breath and went rigid, hoping to not make any noise.

Closing his eyes, Kamui decided to focus on the noise rather than what limited vision his eyes gave him. Past the waterfall’s white noise, he could hear two sets of feet begin to slap along the rocky outcroppings and giggling. Two children, playing on the rock piles close by towards the left side. And he could continue to hear the voices talk to each other further out to the right, mostly covered by the waterfall. He couldn’t recognize either voice, but he could at least identify they were farther out from his position on the shore.

So, what was the situation here? As what he first heard clarified, this was a meeting place for something. Something that involved these two children. It was helmed by the two unknown men, neither recognizable to Kamui. They could be with the Umbra Mondo or a different party. One of them said ‘that’s why I walked here’, so Kamui could infer he usually teleports, by use of technology or magic. It seems the children don’t understand what’s happening here, since they’re allowed to play around in the area.

Kamui slowly got up on both feet from his crouching position. Carefully, to make little noise. This was most likely nothing good and needed to be stopped. The children were far enough away from the two men. If Kamui shot out, he could take them both out without the children being in the way.   
  


Just as the blade began to emerge from its sheath, a third voice called out. “I’m here, like you asked.”

It sounded the faintest, almost inaudible from the waterfall. Somebody has just emerged from the tree line around the lake, it seems, on the left side. Still with some distance in between him and the two men. Kamui could still lunge in and take them by surprise without anyone else in his way.

But then came the hint of worry. There could be others in the tree lines. Others Kamui cannot hear or see because of the waterfall. His hearing may be excellent, but it is not godlike. Maybe it’ll be better to wait for more developments or to just wait this exchange out.

“Papa!” One of the children called out, and Kamui could hear one of the children begin to get down from the rocky outcropping.

The newcomer suddenly sounded panicked. “Stay there, Kana!”

Kana. That sounds familiar to Kamui. Wasn’t it the name of the prince of Valla?

Wait.

Oh shit. OH, SHIT.

By dumb luck, whether good or bad, Kamui had just happened to be in the spot where a hostage situation was occurring with his genetic relatives. Those children were, technically speaking, his niece and nephew, Prince Kana and Princess Elizabeth, and are currently being held hostage without even knowing.

“Listen to your daddy!” A voice called, and Kamui heard one of the kids audibly gasp. “One step more, and bang!”

Gun. He’s holding a gun to them, or some sort of weapon now. The masquerade’s off, and now the kids know they’re in serious danger. They’re about to panic, freak out and try to run away or lock up in fear. What they do could very well decide how this will go.

The male child screamed, and there was audible scrambling. Kana couldn’t read the situation properly. He saw a threat, he registered the taught lesson that his father was protection. He was about to get gunned down.

Kamui shot out of the waterfall, draconic wings unfurling from his back to give him an extra boost. Midflight, the blade came out of his sheath, sweeping through the air in a clean slice.

Now that he was outside of the waterfall, he could see what was happening. He recognized one of the people, who was also the one holding the handcannon at the time. It was the King of Spades, whose eyes promptly blew wide when Kamui’s cut severed his arm clean from his body.

The one next to him looked more alien at first. He was wearing something akin to a biker outfit, with a black club over his eye and chalk-white skin. However, the wild hair gave it away; it used to be Kazuichi Weil, now warped, or ‘upgraded’, into something else.

Kamui skidded to a stop a few feet away from the two. Standing up, he glanced over his shoulder. The children were clutching onto the rocks, looking terrified for their lives. Someone he identified as King Lumine was standing on the other side of the lake, with a shocked expression on his face. The King of Spades continued to stand there, looking at where his arm just existed.

Then the King of Clubs whipped out what looked like a baseball bat with nails in it. “Who are YOU?!” He screamed. “Where did you even come from?!”

Before Kamui could answer, a strike of lightning came from across the lake. It slammed right into the King of Clubs’s chest, and he went skidding back, kicking up waves of dirt. Kamui glanced over to see the king holding his staff, his battle crystals spinning around his other outstretched hand.

“Papaaaaa!” Both of the children ran from the rocks to be by their father.

Lumine swept them both behind him. “Stay behind me, no matter what!” He growled. “The threat isn’t gone, yet!”

Kamui glanced over at the King of Spades, the only one still standing. His arm was reformatting, returning to its normal place just below his shoulder. Once it solidified, he flexed his arm a few times to make sure it was still working correctly. He did not look up at either Lumine’s side or Kamui’s while he was doing this.

“Huh,” he audibly noted. “Didn’t know you were in town, Kamui.”

Kamui frowned, not liking where this is going. “You know who I am?”

“I know every failed experiment of the Shadow King’s,” the King of Spades confirmed. “His very first Blood Clone experiment ran off the first opportunity he got. Who would not know of such a failure?”

Kamui couldn’t help but grimace a bit. “In my opinion, staying with the king would have been a failure on my behalf.”

“We all have our different views,” the King of Spades remarked, stepping back a few feet. “Unfortunately, it seems yours have interrupted mine. Truly a shame that you’ve picked the wrong side of this war.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kamui asked.

The King of Spades only turned away. “I know I’m supposed to say something about how us bad guys are truly the good ones, but misguided, but we all know that isn’t true,” he admitted. “So I’m just going to let you have this victory for now.”

“That's it?” Kamui couldn’t help but question. “You’re just giving up?”   
  


“Shouldn’t you be glad I am?” The King of Spades pulled the dazed King of Clubs out from the pit he was laying in.

Kamui only frowned. “I find myself hesitant to be,” he replied.

“Well, that’s your business, not mine. See you later.” The King of Spades waved goodbye over his shoulder.

Kamui stepped forward, but that was as far as he got. He only watched as the King of Spades and the King of Clubs split apart into red and black digital particles and drifted away like ashes in the wind, carrying some sort of smug victory with them. But what could they have been so happy about? Didn’t they lose?

Kamui glanced back over his shoulder. The two children were huddled behind their father on the other side of the lake, shaking like wet leaves. And the king himself continued to stare at Kamui, slackjawed as if he was a ghost standing in the mortal realm.

After a moment, Kamui let out a puffed sigh. “I guess I’ll need to explain a few things,” he admitted softly, though loud enough for King Lumine to hear. “Right?”

Lumine said nothing. However, he gave a slow nod: a signal Kamui’s carried his point across. This discussion will have to wait until they were somewhere safer.


	38. Battle of Valla: Ending

“So, you’re a...?” Corrin fumbled on her words, still processing what’s been said to her.

“A clone of you, yes,” Kamui confirmed. “I was created, I think almost two years ago.” He then chuckled a bit. “So much has happened, it really doesn’t feel like it.”

“So that’s why I was attacked,” Corrin murmured to mostly herself. “And all they took was a sample of my blood. I should have known Fox planned something nefarious.”

Kamui couldn’t help but pout. “I’m nefarious?”

“Oh, no, not you!” Corrin scrambled to save face. “Just the concept of...Oh, please don’t be mad at me! I’m sorry, Kamui!”

All her male duplicate did was laugh. “Aw, there’s no harm done!” he declared. “I know what you meant, I’m only just giving you a hard time!”

“Your Majesty!” Both looked at Oboro poking her head in. “How goes the talk?”

“You don’t need to poke your head in every three minutes,” Corrin remarked. “I’m fine, really.”

“Okay,” Oboro slowly drawled, continuously making a side glare at Kamui. “Just checking...”

“...You may go now.”

“...Yes, Your Majesty.” Oboro took her time in pulling back out of the doorframe and closing the door.

Oboro and her new friend arrived a few days after Hoshido was conquered. She and the blind man, who refers to himself as Junpei, say that they barely escaped the castle by disguising themselves as the enemy. However, they were too late to save Oboro’s fellow retainers, who were carted off to be turned into Otherworlder Reploids or half-blood Umbrati. It’s hard to tell which fate is worse.

The next day, Leo arrived with his own two retainers. The moment he arrived, he vanished into the room he was borrowing for two days, not coming out to eat or socialize. And when he did finally emerge, he looked like a mess, with scraggly hair and tear stains on his cheek. Corrin has not dared to tell him that Xander was struck down, though she had a sinking feeling he already knew without being told.

And then her two children disappeared without a trace. Corrin had thought that they were just sleeping in for the day. But once she found Lumine’s note on the throne, she knew that something much worse had occurred. But all she could do was stay in Valla, ruling in Lumine’s absence and hoping for the best.

As morning broke the next day, which happened to be today, her family returned home with a newcomer. Corrin found something about the oddly familiar. But as the conversation with this strange boy entailed, he was Kamui, a Blood Clone of her created by Fox.

But if he had never mentioned he was created by the Shadow King, she would have never known. He was too nice and courteous to be created from the machinations of such a horrid person. Of course, the maker doesn’t dictate the benefits of the creation, but the idea of him being Fox’s potential puppet was still jarring to her.

Of course, a few of them were still wary around him. After he saved their lives, the children warmed up to him extremely quickly, referring to him as the ‘new uncle’. Lumine and Corrin found no problems with him, either. However, Leo’s retainers and Oboro found themselves watching Kamui with more focus than necessary, to make sure he didn’t try anything funny.

Kamui understood their worry, of course. He wouldn’t trust him himself if he was in their position, even if he did save the royal children. After all, he didn’t kill the attacker, only ward them off. That doesn’t help his validity by much.

But for now, he was being judged as a minor threat, at worst. It wasn’t like he could try and assassinate the queen. He had the instinctive feeling that his windpipe would be crushed in mere seconds by his female duplicate. It must come with the connection he has with her as a clone, and he was unwilling to test it.

So, after about twenty minutes of discussion, it’s become clear that Uldren was right to Kamui. Corrin didn’t care if he was a clone. And everyone else was more concerned with his potential allegiance to Fox than the Blood Clone issue, though that had been another thing he was anxious to talk about.

Right now, he could just feel his worries about his self-identity slowly dripping away. He didn’t know why. Maybe it was the way the queen held his hand or the way she was just simply smiling at him. Regardless, he began to feel that it wasn’t something to worry about anymore.

The door creaked open again, and both looked. In walked Lumine, cape trailing behind him. It swished around in an almost mesmerizing fashion as he turned to close the door behind him.

Corrin walked over to him. “How are our defenses?” She asked.

In return, Lumine smiled. “Holding up better than I anticipated,” he reported. “And there are more enemies than I estimated would be sent. I think we’ll be able to hold them off with the tactics you pitched.”

“You think?” Corrin frowned. “You’ll jinx us with that attitude!”

Lumine looked embarrassed. “Oh! Um...I didn’t know my words had that much power.”

“Aw, I’m only kidding!” Corrin couldn’t help but pet her husband on the head. “Even these days, you get so flustered at such little things.”

“C-Corrin! Not in front of the new family member!” Lumine’s face went a bit more red at that.

As Corrin laughed, Kamui tilted his head. “Are you referring to...me?” He pointed at himself.

Lumine glanced over at Kamui. “Ah, yes,” he confirmed. “Well, I was thinking that, since you were related to Corrin by DNA and all that you would count as a biological brother, right?”

“Funny enough, you would be my only biologically-related sibling,” Corrin noted with amusement to her tone.

Kamui took a moment to try and formulate words in his head. “Wait, you...” He slowly tilted his head to the side. “You want me to be part of the family?”

“Well, you came all this way to introduce yourself,” Corrin pointed out. “I think that took at least some amount of courage, to put yourself in danger like that.”

“Not only traveling here but approaching us,” Lumine agreed. “You had no idea how we would react to the idea of somebody like you.”

Kamui frowned a bit. “I expected you to hate or fear me,” he admitted. “But I thought it was the right idea to get it off my chest, so I wouldn’t regret not telling you later in my life.”

At that, Corrin took both of Kamui’s hands into her own once more. “Well, you’re here now,” she said with a grin. “And we’re inviting you into the family.”

Kamui thought for a moment, then asked, “Would that make me a prince?”

“I believe so,” Corrin answered. “I mean, you do have royal blood, don’t you?”

As if to check for himself, Kamui looked down at his hands being held. “Huh,” he quipped. “Never thought of it that way.” However, he pulled his hands away. “Wait! How would you even announce that to your people? ‘Hey, I just figured out my mortal enemy made a clone of me, so now you may refer to him as a prince of Valla!’ Won’t the citizens think of you as bonanzas?”

While Corrin looked like she wanted to argue, she did put on a thinking face after a moment. “Oh,” she muttered. “Good point.”

“How about we not announce him to the world?” Lumine suggested. “Or at least we wait for all of the current chaos to die down? Say, a year or so after the war’s end?”

“Yes, but we don’t even know how the war’s going to turn out,” Corrin couldn’t help but point out.

“Can we not be so negative?” Kamui asked, pouting a bit.

Lumine suddenly laughed. “He does the same thing you do, dear!” He pointed at Kamui’s face. “He’s got your classic pout!”

Kamui dropped it immediately in turn for a confused grimace. “I do?”

“Aw, he does? Do it again, I want to see!”

Instead of allowing this, Kamui arched his back to escape the look of the two. “Nuh-uh!”

“Hey! Aren’t I your older brother-in-law now, so you have to listen to what I say?”

“We never agreed on that!” Kamui snarked back, but his voice was laced with laughter.


	39. Battle of Valla: Another Side

The Shadow King sat by the open window, leaning on one hand. In his left hand, he held an ebony chess piece, a queen with its head broken off and lost. There wasn’t even any chess set up in front of him. He just happened to be holding it. He tossed it up and down without looking at it, continuing to look off into the abyssal sky.

After a few more seconds, he caught the queen piece and set it down on the table in front of his chair. Gently, he in return picked up his cup of tea, bringing it to his lips.

Griso Blossom Tea. Wasn’t it her favorite? Yes, he believed so. She brought it to almost every meeting they had amongst the officials, along with sugary pastries as mid-conversation snacks. Even when half of them were robotic, and did not require eating, she brought them anyway.

He sounded hypocritical. He didn’t need to eat or drink, yet here he was, sipping on Lianna’s favorite flavor of tea. Maybe he was just being reminiscent today. That could explain the semi-foul mood.

He didn’t have much reason to be upset. They were making headway in conquering Alliance territory. Really, the only opposition giving them trouble so far was Valla, but they could be starved out eventually, no matter how much of a fight they put up. A simple wildfire and the right wind would end all of their resistance so quickly.

Yes, he should try that tactic first thing tomorrow. The thought of watching the Reploid who nearly blew him up by suicide bombing incinerate painfully within the ashes of his precious kingdom brought a smile to the Shadow King’s lips.

However, the moment was interrupted by a cold voice. “Hey, Fox.”

The Shadow King glanced over. “You know I detest being called by my name these days.”

Cedar, with a bag strung over one shoulder, shrugged. “Anything to peeve you off.”

Their alliance was shaky, at best. The Shadow King knew the moment the Boyce family was within safety, Cedar would pull out a gun and put a bullet in the back of his head the first chance he got. So he and Cedar both were playing their cards very carefully around each other, estimating what the other would do, and occasionally testing the waters to find what the boundaries were. Such was the tantalizing tango of mapping out one’s inner thoughts.

“Why are you here?” To feign ignorance, the Shadow King looked back out the window. He knew Cedar had a gun with him. Would he try to blow his circuits out, right where he sat?

“To give you an update,” Cedar answered. “You know, on our little hunt.”

“Well, where’s Mirage?” Fox asked.

“Checking on the girl,” Cedar answered. “Seraphina, ain’t it?”

“Oh, yes. Her. Do you have a plan?”

“Sort of.” Cedar sat the bag down, and the Shadow King observed its shape from the corner of his eye.

That was his gun, concealed in the duffel bag. Laying down, the imprint was obvious. However, if carried around, it blended in almost expertly. A method of looking casual within busy areas.

“What’s the news?”

Cedar leaned against the wall, right in the Shadow King’s vision. “We believe we found him yesterday in Dr. Weil’s old hometown. Somebody checked into a Sourlytical Hotel downtown five blocks away from Dr. Weil’s old house under the name of Richard Roe.”

The Shadow King raised an eyebrow. “How is that related to the Drifter?”

“It’s one of the many terms that can be used when hiding the identity of a reported corpse during a criminal investigation in newsletters,” Cedar replied. “Other examples include John or Jane Doe, though that would have been too obvious. Richard Roe is the lesser-known alternative.” 

“Isn’t there a law somewhere that reads along the lines of ‘you can’t question businesses about their customers without valid search warrants’?” The Shadow King fancied a daring conversation, a way to rub Cedar the wrong way.

Cedar paused. “We resorted to unsavory methods to get it out of the hotel owner a basic description of our Richard Roe,” he admitted. “Beard, green outfit, scars on the cheeks.”

“That’s him, alright,” the Shadow King murmured. “Did he get away?”

“Mirage and I put a stakeout that night,” Cedar continued. “We spotted him enter Dr. Weil’s house, but when we approached, he was nowhere to be found. Must have found out you left nothing behind in your initial invasion quick, because virtually nothing was touched. He must have hurried out the back door.”

“You know, a party with more than one person means you can split up,” the Shadow King remarked. “One of you could have stayed at the back door for our rat.”

Cedar huffed. “Mirage wouldn’t let me out of his sight even if you told him to,” he replied. “He doesn’t trust me, and I don’t think I need to tell you why he doesn’t.”

The Shadow King nodded along. “Yes, I realize that now, as I say this out loud,” he commented. “So you lost him.”

“But this was today,” Cedar pointed out. “He could not have gotten far. We have soldiers stationed in the town now, ready to announce any sign of him leaving. He will not escape the notice of all of them.”

“Hmph.” The Shadow King looked away. “Is that all you came here to tell me? About your failure?”

“Do not test my patience,” Cedar warned.

“And don’t threaten me,” the king remarked in return. “Remember, I have a gun trained on Spider, Eirika, and the Boyce family. I can take a limb or a life whenever I wish and however I please. I would not test that limit with me if you had to pick and choose what to test.”

Cedar seemed to know when to pick his fights. His scowl softened into a simple frown, and he straightened up. The Shadow King gave a quick chortle at the subtle sign of submission.

“Is that all?” The Shadow King took his gaze off of Cedar.

“Yes...sir,” Cedar growled.

The Shadow King looked back with a wicked grin. “Oh, I like that. I wish I could be doing this with your precious Takumi, but I guess it’s long past too late to try that, isn’t it?”

Cedar sucked in a sharp breath and raised a fist, face contorting into a snarl. The Shadow King simply sat back and raised a hand to signal ‘silence’. Slowly, Cedar’s shoulders sagged, and he once more returned to a rigid position, but the Shadow King could see his clenched arm shaking by his side.

“I’m sorry,” the Shadow King said in a tone that meant anything but ‘sorry’. “I know that isn’t a button I should even dream of carelessly pressing.”

“Your Majesty!” The Shadow King became aware of hurried footsteps and looked to see Mirage ascend the stairs, panting as he did so.

“Mirage?” The Shadow King raised an eyebrow. “What has happened?” He then remembered who Mirage was supposed to be checking up on. “Does this involve Seraphina?”

Mirage leaned over once he finished climbing the stairs. He took a few moments to catch his breath, panting. The Shadow King could hear the life support fluid sloshing around in the chest container holding his important organs.

Then, Mirage straightened back up. “It is,” he announced. “She’s escaped her cell.”

“What?!” The Shadow King stood up.

“The back wall of her cell was busted down,” Mirage explained. “She must have used the powers the AI known as Sigma lends her to break it down. Not only that, she left a note.”

At that, the Shadow King’s hand shot out. “Hand it over,” he sternly ordered Mirage.

The man quietly withdrew a white sheet of paper, slightly crumpled in his clenched hand. He passed it over to the king, who proceeded to grip it with balled fists as he scanned over the words.

_ “Dearest Lord of Shadow’s Heart and emperor of the Umbra Mondo, _

_ Suck it, you fucking lump of circuits and brain matter. _

_ Cordially, your ex-head researcher, Seraphina Krishka” _

“...Change of plans, you two.” The paper erupted into dark fire, and the ashes fell around the Shadow King’s feet. “Find that prudent girl, first. Ignore the Drifter.”

“What?” Cedar questioned. “But you said-”

“I do not care what I’ve said,” the Shadow King retorted. “If we get that girl back, we could very well lure the Drifter into our clutches. It was her that he was aligned with when undermining us. She could very well mean much to him.”

“So...if we get her back, we may get the Drifter as well?”

“When the two are compared, it’s Seraphina who’s the bigger threat. She has the knowledge that he uses to take out our foundations. Even if it means the Drifter vanishes forever, I want her back in containment.”


	40. To Division Xeric: Beginning

Horses are very, very slow. They would make easy time if Nowi just transformed into a dragon and flew her family to Division Xeric. But Spider told her not to, said it would draw in all kinds of unwanted attention. She guessed that he had a point, but it was still frustrating constantly going horseback.

In all honesty, she wasn’t even sure if they were going in the right direction anymore. Every mile in this shrubland region looked identical to the next one. Were they even going north anymore, or did they get all turned around like she thought they did?

There were two horses in the tiny four-person convoy. Mint was on the sleek white horse named Sora with the sleeping Mary strapped to her back in a baby carrier. And on the chestnut horse named Spook, Nowi was half-asleep herself, their daughter Nah clinging onto her back and being bumped up into the air every stride the horse took.

They had left the Cocoon a few days ago on Spider’s orders. They were supposed to follow the hidden communication lines to Division Xeric, a hidden bastion of safety. But two days back, Nah accidentally incinerated the map when she sneezed a bout of multicolored flames onto the paper. And carrying pieces of technology on them would have just led the people they were running from right to them, so there were no backup plans in case they lost the map they had. All they had was a compass that Nowi had no idea if it worked or not.

On one hand, at least they weren’t being terrorized by anything hostile. On the other, food and water were meant to last two weeks if evenly rationed. They’re out of water, it’s the twelfth day, and Nowi wasn’t even sure if they were halfway there yet.

It wasn’t like she was going to say that out loud for poor Mint to hear. She didn’t want to worry her darling wife any more than she already was. So she’s been keeping quiet on more than a few of her worries.

The air felt even hotter and more stifling than usual. Nowi took a moment to use her shirt sleeve to wipe off her face, gripping the reins with one hand. It was getting unbearable, sitting on a horse every hour in the day, from sunrise to sunset. Her butt was so sore.

A low whistling noise started up in her ear. She began to drill a finger in, wincing. Wasn’t hearing things a sign of heatstroke?

When it got louder, that’s when Nowi realized she wasn’t exactly hearing things.

Slowing down Spook, Nowi glanced over to ask Mint if she was hearing it, too. However, she noticed Mint slowing down too, staring up at the sky. As the noise continued to increase in volume, Nowi tilted her head up to look as well.

A large trail of smoke was streaking down towards the ground from the sky. At the front of the trail looked to be a ship, spiraling out of control. It went past a hill not too far from them, and after a moment, all four of the girls heard and felt a big crash through the ground, and the horses began to grow restless.

Mint reached to pet Sora. “Hey, it’s okay!” she cried out. “Calm down, shh, shh.”

Nowi began to turn Spook in the direction of the crash to get a better glance at the smoke plume rising from it. “What was that?” she wondered.

“Something we should stay away from!” Mint replied, seeing Nowi’s expression. “It’s too dangerous to explore things willy-nilly.”   
  


“Maybe they’re friendly,” Nowi pointed out.

“Even if they are, SOMETHING must have shot them down!” Mint pointed out. “Most likely the very people we’re trying to hide from!”   
  


“Doesn’t that give us all the more reason to try and help them?” Nowi pointed out. “That just makes me think that we’re allied against a common foe. Plus, they didn’t look to have the Umbra Mondo colors on their ship.”

Mint seemed skeptical. “Did you even get a good look at the ship before it crashed?”

“Well...no,” Nowi admitted. “But I’m almost certain I saw no purple on the hull!”

“Almost certain, or definitely certain?”

“Um...Well, I don’t wanna lie to you, Mint!”

Nowi took the time to glance at the hill again. This time, she could see a figure perched on top of it, staring right at the small group. They were cloaked in red and seemed to be staring at them through the scope of a rifle. In fact, they were pointing it right at them.

“Mint, go!” Nowi snapped the reins to stir Spook into motion.

Both of the horses began to gallop along as the girls anxiously hurried them along. The figure seemed startled by this sudden movement, as if not meaning to have startled them. They lowered the rifle, walking the tiny convoy flee.

Nah pointed up at the sky. “Mama, Mother!” she cried out happily. “Look, ships!”

Already, a sinking feeling formed in Nowi's chest. She stole a glance at the sky in time to see an arc of orange fire descending fast upon the desert ground at them from the sky.

Something collided into Mint from behind, and she was flung off of her horse. The large being now clutching her and Nah rolled along the ground, leaving Spook stumbling and whinnying, abruptly cut off when the missile slammed right on top of where the horse stood, sending up dirt, fire, and guts.

Nowi's heart was pounding fast. Besides her, Nah was sniffling, about to burst into tears. When she reached out, their savior loosened their grip enough so she could pull her daughter into her arms tightly, like an anchor to the world they could have just left.

"Shh, shh," she stammered as Nah sobbed into her shoulder. "We're okay, it's going to be okay, Nah."

"Nowi!" Mint called out, dismounting her horse and running to her wife's side, immediately flinging herself into Nowi's arms.

Nowi took a deep breath, trying to recompose herself. She still couldn’t feel her heartbeat slowing down anytime soon, and Nah was still crying into her. She looked over Mint’s shoulder to look at Mary starting to cry herself, having woken up from the sudden violent commotion.

A three-fingered hand reached out towards Mary from behind Nowi; their savior, holding out a quiet comfort. Nowi expected Mary to not notice, but watched as the baby’s cries began to quiet down, and small fingers reached out to the strange new hand.

With the slowly-returning calmness, Nowi looked up. She counted four shadows currently looming over them. Two were running up, and another two were aiming weapons at the sky, seeming to track the attacking ship bombardment.

“Eliksni?” Nowi wondered aloud, recalling the aliens led by the Kell of Kells Allura.

“Sort of,” a guttural voice replied from the one holding Nowi and Nah. “We are...distant cousins.”

<“Cute that you’re trying, Fikrul,”> one of the other three shadows commented.

The one with the girls waved one of their four arms. <“Silence. Give these children a moment.”>

<“A moment is not arriving!”> One of the two shadows with their weapons out suddenly called. <“The ship is looping back for another go!”>

<“Can you shoot it?”>

<“My weapon won’t even hit it, much less do anything to its hull.”>

Fikrul looked at the girls. “Can you move?”   
  
“U-Uh...” Nowi found herself clamoring for words again, but proceeded to nod. “Yea, I can.”

“Good.” With two of his hands, he began to push the four onto their feet. “Then start running. Scatter, if you have to. Go under any rock outcroppings you can to hide.”

They didn’t hesitate much to thank the strangers. Nowi took Mint’s hand in one, and Nah’s in the other. With Mary still on Mint’s back, the four began to sprint towards the closest rock structure they could see as the whistling in the air began to get louder again.

Just behind them, echoing explosions began to occur. For a second, Nowi looked back to see the eight ‘Eliksni’ scattering away from bombardments, aiming their weapons up and attempting to gun the attacking ship down with what they had.

The rational side of Nowi’s mind was confused and worried about what they were doing. There was no way they would be able to take down such a lithe and speedy aircraft with bullets meant for ground units. However, a little piece of her was hoping for the best-case scenario for both her family and the strangers.

She watched the ship, once fully passing by, begin to turn around again from under the rocky ledge’s shade the four crouched under now. Then, she noticed it: a plume of smoke was beginning to rise from its left wing. By some miracle, one of the eight had managed to hit it.

It spun around fully, but everyone could tell something was wrong with the way it moved. It was tilting downwards too much to be going in for another attack. Did the pilot get shot in a one in a million chance, as well?

The ship went downwards towards the ground and made a booming impact. A brilliant geyser of dirt and fire went up into the sky, and a moment later, a clap of sound rocketed across the shrubland. Mary began to cry again, and Nowi and Nah both covered their sensitive ears.

Sora, the other surviving horse, had long since galloped off. He had been startled by the cacophony of noises and has vanished out of sight, taking the last bagged provisions with him.

As the girls watched, slowly, the eight lowered their weapons. It was hard to read their facial expressions, but Nowi could tell that they were equally flabbergasted by the miraculous shots that just happened to save their lives. A few even looked amongst their numbers, as if trying to identify who fired the shot.

Fikrul turned away from the others and looked around. Recognizing he was looking for them, Nowi stood up and waved her arms at him. He glanced over, then nodded and began to walk after, soon followed by the other seven.

“Are you alright?” he asked the girls.

“Were you the ones who crashed in that ship we saw?” Nah piped up first before Nowi could say anything.

One of the others behind Fikrul grimaced. “Yes,” they admitted. “We were shot down by that same ship that tried to kill you. Angered them, have we?”

“No!” Mint cried out. “Not really! They’re just hunting us because they’re the bad guys, and want to hurt us because we’re friends with the good guys!”

“From the Alliance?” Another one guessed.

There was a cackle. “Alliance and Umbra Mondo alike fun to blow up!”

Nowi flinched a bit. “You, um...What?”

“Ignore Kaniks,” one of the female members said. “He loves explosions, and doesn’t care who he blows up to get them.” She then paused, and admitted, “The rest of us have attacked Alliance members before, however, though I see they have bigger problems at the moment.”

<“They are weak and unprepared for the Scorned Barons,”> one with a large gun-like contraption strapped to her back pointed out. <“We can attack them, and take back the territory they’ve claimed-”>

<“Enough,”> Fikrul growled. <“They have exterminated all of our Scorn forces. We should not test the waters any further with potential allies against the real threat to all of us.”>

The whole time, the girls remained quiet, watching the eight. It kind of reminded Nowi of a family, by how much they bickered amongst themselves.

Fikrul noticed this quiet and glanced back. “Are we scaring you?” he asked.

“Nope!” Nah cheerfully replied. “I think you’re very nice people.”

Mint didn’t look so sure, however, judging by the way she kept reaching to Mary on her back. “Yes,” she slowly said. “Nice.”

“I understand if you are apprehensive now.” Fikrul turned back to his companions. <“See what you have done? You are scaring them.”>

Kaniks laughed again. “Did our scary looks not do enough? Ha ha ha ha ha!”

“Kaniks!” The other female member snapped. <“Don’t make this worse than it already is.”>

Nowi looked over at Mint, who looked around. Once she noticed Sora was long gone, she let out a small sigh and looked significantly tired, all of a sudden. All of this running was catching up to them, now that they’re taken a moment to stop.

One of the companions, the other female with the hood, noticed this sudden lethargy and knelt slowly and carefully. “How long have you been running?” she asked Mint in particular.

After a moment, Mint replied with, “Lotsa days. I mean, what day is it now?”

“On your human calendars, it would be July 8th,” she answered.

“Yea, a lot of days, then. We left the Cocoon on June 26th, and have been running since.”

“The Cocoon?” Fikrul questioned.

“Our home. Nowi-powi here’s the secretary to the mayor Spider. Before the Umbra Mondo invaded, he had us leave on horseback and go to-” Mint stopped herself. “A secret location that you shouldn’t know about.”

“And I wish to presume getting there will be much more difficult now that your last horse has run off with all of your supplies?” The female pointed out.

Mint looked around again, then nodded. “Yea,” she said. “To tell you the truth, I think we’re lost.”

“Well, so are we,” the female stated. “If that makes you feel any better.”

“We were flying overhead to lose our followers,” Fikrul explained. “But they shot us down. I believe you saw us crash, but quickly ran away.”

“Yea,” Nowi agreed. “We ran because one of your own was pointing their weapon at us.” She pointed out the one in red when she said that.

Fikrul looked back at them. “Pirrha?” He questioned.

“I was using my scope to observe them,” the Scorn, Pirrha, responded. “However, I do realize that I was aiming my crossbow at them to do so, so I understand the misconception.”

One of them looked up at the sky. “Harsh sun,” they commented, glancing down at the four girls. “Hardly an environment for you to survive wandering on foot and without food or water.”

“I suppose you don’t have any?” Nowi questioned.

All eight paused. The seven looked at Fikrul, who was apparently their leader. He only looked back and gave a single nod to them.

Pirrha reached to his side and opened a bag Nowi didn’t notice until then. He proceeded to stick a hand in, then pulled out what looked to be a flask made of bronze. He opened it, tilted it towards his face as if to sniff it, then passed it down to a lower arm, which held it out to the girls.

Nowi took it first and peeked inside. It looked to be clean water, though she had her suspicions by the movements Pirrha had taken. So instead of passing it along to Mint for the kids, she decided to be the test subject and to take the smallest sip.

After a few moments, she found that she wasn’t curling up and dying. The water was warm, but she didn’t expect it to be cool. After about ten seconds, with Nah beginning to try and reach for the flask, she handed it over to Mint.

She seemed to have the same idea. She put the opening to her eye and stared inside. A green shine went over her pupils and sclera for a few moments, then faded as she finished a scan.

“I detect nothing besides water,” she told Nowi.

Fikrul seemed confused. “Did you expect anything else?”

Nowi glanced aside a bit awkwardly before admitting, “We don’t exactly trust you enough to presume nothing you offer to us will be poisoned.”

“Oh,” Pirrha remarked. “Is that the issue? I understand.”

One of the others took the flask and tilted their head back. They took a minimal sip without hesitation but made sure their mouth did not touch the flask.

“Ah,” they said, lowering it. “See? No poison. I would not drink without fear if that was the case.”

Nah reached out for it. “Excuse me,” she whimpered. “But may I have some water, please?”

With an underlying coo, they responded, “Of course, small child.” They held it to her height, and she immediately took it and began to down all of the water in there.

“Nah!” Mint cried out. “Leave some for your other mama and your sissy, okay?”

“Don’t worry,” Pirrha spoke up. “I have more bottles.”

“Pirrha, don’t give them all of our water!” The female with the hood cried out. “We need some, too!”

“But isn’t it obvious that they need some at the moment more than we do?” Pirrha sounded sad at her temporary anger.

As Pirrha passed Mint another flask, which she immediately unscrewed and placed to Mary’s mouth, the female sighed, then opened a bag of her own. She took out what looked to be a bread roll and made sure to put a small portion in her mouth to prove its safety. Then, she passed it to Nah, who grabbed it and shoved it into her mouth, letting Nowi take the first flask.

<“Adorable children,”> Fikrul commented to the others in Eliksni.

<“Well, Fikrul?”> Pirrha asked. <“What do we do? Letting them go on their own will only get them killed.”>

<“Isn’t giving them our food and water enough?”> Reksis Vahn hissed. <“We are not caretakers for anybody who gets themselves lost in a desert.”>

Araskes closed her bag after giving out three more rolls, one for each girl. <“We may be criminals, but we at least must have standards. Leaving an innocent family to die slowly should not be something we should happily oblige to.”>

<“Our ship is gone!”> Pirrha pointed at the plume of smoke behind them. <“And the fire from it will attract more of the Umbra Mondo. Whatever we choose, we choose fast.”>

Instead of taking time to debate the options, Fikrul looked back at the girls. The rolls were already gone, and Nowi was shaking the flask she was holding to try and get more water. He took a moment to observe all of the dust clinging to their clothes, face, and hair, the way their arms trembled while gripping the two emptied flasks.

“Can we make a deal?” Fikrul asked.

Nowi looked up at him. “Huh?” she asked.

“You said you were going to a secret location. If we accompany and protect you, may we enter this place of safety?”

<“What?!”> Reksis Vahn shrieked from over Fikrul’s shoulder.

“You four will surely die out here,” Fikrul continued. “As you said, you are lost, without food, water, or transportation besides your feet. We don’t wish to leave you to your demise, but we don’t want to do anything that won’t benefit us in return. An equal trade.”

Nowi, however, still frowned nonetheless. “How do I know that you won’t hurt anybody once we get there?” she asked.

Fikrul sighed. “A justifiable worry, given the circumstances.” He put a hand to his chest and bowed forward. “I promise that all eight of us will show zero amounts of hostility to your haven, no matter what, and we will abide by that.”

<“Fikrul, are you mad?!”> Reksis Vahn questioned. <“You could be shooting ourselves in the foot here!”>

“You, um...” Nowi hesitated. “Swear on it?”

“I do. You have my word, as Archon of the Scorn, leader of the Scorned Barons.”

Mint peeked behind Fikrul at the other seven. “So that’s who you guys are...Scorned Barons, huh?”

“...I’m Nowi Boyce,” Nowi said. “This is my wife, Mint, my daughter Nah, and Mary was entrusted to us by a dear friend of mine.”

“Fikrul. These are my brothers and sisters, Elykris, Hiraks, Araskes, Reksis Vahn, Kaniks, Pirrha, and Yaviks. We are the Scorned Barons.”

Mint made a curtseying gesture. “It’s nice to meet all of you. Thank you for saving me and my family.”

“What did you see up in the sky?” Nowi asked, handing back the flasks to Pirrha.

Pirrha took the flasks with his two lower arms, while her upper ones pointed to the west. “We saw a strip of mountains and hills that way,” he said. “Is that what we are looking for?”

“The place we’re going is called Division Xeric,” Nowi explained. “It’s located near a place that forms a river whenever it rains. Somewhere at the beginning of the river is a hidden emergency base that contains a cloud seeder, which will make it rain when activated.”

“Then the river to the Division Xeric will appear,” Fikrul completed. “Leading the way.”

Nowi couldn’t help but smile and nod. “Yup! We have to look for a cluster of ridges. The river starts there, and the base is hidden there as well. From there, it's about..." She quickly did the math on her fingers. "Two days of a walk! We expected to get there in two weeks, but...” She frowned. “Day Twelve, and we have zero ideas where we are.”

“A cluster of ridges?” Pirrha looked again at the hills he pointed out. “Then we should investigate over there is what you are saying.”

“You guys saw an aerial view, not us,” Nowi answered. “I would go up myself, but I could just get shot out of the sky. I’m very noticeable in my dragon form.”

“Ah,” Yaviks commented. “That explains the non-human fang.” She pointed out said fang sticking out of Nowi’s closed mouth. “You are not human.”

“You can transform into dragon?” Kaniks clapped his hands. “Turn into dragon! Turn into dragon!”

Nowi only pouted as she began to turn west. “Didn't I JUST say that would attract unwanted attention?”


	41. To Division Xeric: Halfway

With a resounding creak, the rusted trapdoor was pushed open by Reksis Vahn. A whoosh of hot air blew up into the face of Mint, who had been standing right by him, and she recoiled, scrunching up her face.

“It’s blistering down there!” She complained.

Nowi knelt down to look into the hole herself. “That’s because the air conditioning hasn’t been circulating. The emergency base hasn’t been touched for a few years now, last I recall.”

“We’ll be cooked alive in there,” Pirrha pointed out.

“It is better than wandering blindly,” Fikrul replied. “Once we activate the cloud seeder then wait, the vanishing river will appear, and we will be led to Division Xeric.”

“Can’t we just follow the indents in the ground the river leaves behind when it dries up?” Pirrha questioned.

“Because of climate change, it hasn’t rained here for years,” Nowi revealed. “The indents simply don’t exist anymore. The only way it can rain here is by artificial or magical means, and I don’t expect anyone here to know a cloud spell?” The Barons individually shook their heads. “Thought so.”

By now, Mint had vanished below into the trapdoor, and Yaviks was beginning to crawl down the ladder into the sweltering heat right after her. Nowi nearly went herself but stayed put after a second of consideration.

Fikrul noticed this hesitation. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m staying up here with Nah and Mary,” she replied, looking at the small infant she was carrying. “Until the conditioning circulates through and pushes out the temperatures that are probably in the 100s. It’s not good for their tiny bodies.”

“A good point,” Fikrul agreed. “I am sorry for not taking that into consideration.”

“Well, it’s not exactly your fault-” Nowi began.

There was a grunt, and both looked. The trapdoor wasn’t small, but it wasn’t very wide, either. Combined with her arsenal on her back, Elykris had herself jammed into the opening by pure accident. Reksis Vahn and Hiraks were now watching her with mild glances of concern as she kicked around and tried to push herself out by use of her arms.

“I am stuck,” she duly commented.

“I mean,” Nowi slowly said. “It’s probably because of that big hump on your back.”

“What, my arsenal?”

“She has a point, Elykris,” Reksis Vahn said. “If you want to get down there, it has to be removed.”

“I am NOT disarming myself of my most valued weapon!”

“Don’t you want to go in there?” Nowi asked.

“On second thought? No.”

At this time, Nowi became aware of a dot in the sky. She initially thought it was an eyelash that happened to fall into her eye, so she blinked a few times to make it go away. It didn’t at all.

She immediately began tugging on Fikrul. “Mr. Fikrul!” she hissed. “Do you see that?”

Fikrul tilted his head up to look towards the sky. He said nothing for a few moments. He was probably squinting under his helmet to try and figure out what Nowi was referring to. The dot looks to have gotten a tiny bit bigger.

“Aircraft!” he suddenly snapped. <“Elykris, ditch your munitions now! We need to get inside!”>

Elykris looked to be ready to complain, then registered what Fikrul just said. Immediately, she began struggling to get off the munitions and cast it aside. Hiraks got behind her and began to help her pull it off as best as he could.

After a few seconds, she slid out of the last few straps and disappeared down the hatch. There was a ‘thunk’ at the bottom, and a very loud screech, probably a curse word in Eliksni. Nowi winced, and Mary began to hiccup in her arms.

“You go next, child,” Reksis Vahn said to the small Nah beside him. “It will be safe down there.”

“O-Okay, Mr. Vahn.” Nah began to swing her tiny legs over and onto ladder rungs.   
  


“Grip onto them tightly,” he instructed her. “And if you fall, Elykris is just below you. She will catch you.” He raised his voice so the Machinist can hear that from the bottom of the ladder.

“He’s right!” Elykris’s voice reverberated up. “Don’t be scared, I gotcha!”   
  
“Okay! I trust you, Ms. Elykris!”

After Nah’s head disappeared below the hatch, Fikrul gestured forward. “You and Mary next.”

“I can’t. N-Not with Mary, at least. Mint has the baby carrier, not me! I can’t climb down and carry Mary at the same time!” Nowi shot her head up to the sky to look at the approaching aircraft. It looked a lot closer, and she could begin to hear it.

She heard a thunk and turned to see Reksis Vahn had dropped his flail, shoving it aside next to Elkyris’s munitions. He gestured to Hiraks to go down with one arm and reached out another towards Nowi.

“Then I go next,” he said. “Carrying the child with me.”

Nowi was hesitant. They had only crossed paths due to a mutual benefit. There wasn’t exactly a bond of trust between them, not yet. But this wasn’t time to debate it. All of them were in equal amounts of danger, Mary even moreso. Nowi needed to protect her, no matter what.

Slowly, she passed the small baby over. “Be careful going down, please,” she begged.

“I will. Worry not.” Reksis turned and lumbered over to the hatch slowly and meticulously, clutching Mary close as if preparing to shield her with his life.

“You go next after him.” Fikrul pushed Nowi forward slightly. “I will go last.”

“What if it spots you?” Nowi asked.

“Then I will run, and return when it will be safe,” he said. “I cannot die, you see. Even if they bomb me, I will always return. But you must remain safe, correct?”

Nowi nodded. “I do.”

“Then go.” Fikrul pushed her forth towards the hatch. “Descend quickly!”

Nowi looked down the hatch. Reksis looked to be halfway down, and she could see the blanket bundle that was Mary still cradled in his lower right arm. She turned around and began to place her legs on the rungs as the aircraft began to get louder.

When she was a few rungs below the opening, Fikrul grabbed the hatch lid and slammed it down with an accompanying creak. The light from above and the roar of aircraft engines was cut off, and she looked above her head, clammy hands gripping the metal ladder. She could hear footsteps muffled, but otherwise, silence ensued.

Already it felt as if she was boiling alive. There was the faint drone of conditioning. Mint must have turned it on. To get to a somewhat cooler spot, Mint picked the pace back up and began to descend the rest of the way.

Once her feet hit the ground, she turned around. Mint was nowhere to be seen, probably deeper into the bunker. Instead, all of the seven other Barons were standing there. Most of them were staring at her, but Reksis Vahn was busying himself with wiggling his fingers in front of Mary grabbing and giggling.

When he noticed Nowi staring, he lowered his hand and said nothing.

“Is Fikrul coming?” Pirrha asked.

“He told me to go first,” Nowi said. “And he closed the hatch behind me. He’s trying to lure away the patrolling aircraft, trying to throw them off.”

“That idiot,” Elykris remarked. “They will surely know something is amiss when one usually within a group is alone.”

Araskes giggled. “They may think we have died, and he is looking for our bodies. Perhaps that is the story he will stay with?”

“Who cares?” Kaniks cackled. “Fikrul go boom, maybe!”

“D-Don’t say that!” Nowi yelped. “That’s not a pleasant thought!”

“Don’t worry,” Reksis Vahn immediately spoke up. “Fikrul will return from the dead, no matter what. A few explosions or ensuing shrapnel won’t deter him.”

“That being said, we shouldn’t turn on the cloud seeder until he returns.” Pirrha turned around. “I shall tell Mint.”

Still a bit shaken, Nowi nodded. “Yea. You do that.”

She looked once back more at Mary. She was starting to whine a little bit, sticking out her small hands at Reksis. When her crying began again, he looked at her and raised his hand for her to latch onto again.

“Sorry that you had to leave your flail outside,” Nowi apologized.

Reksis glanced at her and huffed. He then returned his attention to Mary giggling at him, still not complaining at all.

The bunker seemed to get a little bit colder, and Nowi could feel a current of air blasting through. The air conditioner must have been turned on. Good, because they’ll be here for a while. It would probably be good to find where the food and water are stored, too.

She was about to ask Reksis Vahn for Mary back when she watched Nah walk over to the Baron. She stuck out her small hands, probably to take back her sister. Instead, Reksis must have misinterpreted it and proceeded to gently pick up Nah with one of his still free hands.

Maybe she should just leave them to it. Mary might get upset if Nowi takes her away from her new friend, after all.


End file.
